The Bayou's Heart
by blueflower1594
Summary: A retell of The Princess and the Frog, but this time, Sora and friends are along on the ride! Will Sora learn something from Tiana and Naveen's love?
1. Meet Tiana and Naveen

**O.K, I have to write this fic before someone gets my idea! We all know it has to be written!**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Kingdom Hearts nor the Princess and the Frog!**

**This takes place some time during Kingdom Hearts 2!**

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"All right guys, we have to get a move on if we want to find Riku, Kairi, and Mickey, so no more drive thrus!" Sora, the spiky-haired 15-year-old boy told his friends. They were in their gummi ship and this had been the _fourth _stop.

Goofy swallowed his meal. "Sora! It's a drive thru in _space! _How can that not make you happy?" Donald was too busy eating to comment.

Sora sighed. "Well….yeah, it _is _pretty cool, huh? But I _still _have no clue where they are and I'm worried!"

Goofy looked at Sora's meal. "So….you're not gonna eat that?"

Sora snatched his bag away. "I didn't say that…"

Donald finally looked up. "Don't worry, Sora! We'll find your girlfriend! You two are always together, no matter how far apart you are!"

Sora blushed. "She's not my girlfriend…"

Goofy raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you really liked Kairi?"

Sora scratched the back of his head. "I do! It's just….I don't think she feels the same."

Donald and Goofy exchanged a look. "Sora, are you nuts? She's all about you!" Donald protested.

Sora sighed and leaned on the wheel. "Guys, I've been thinking-"

"- Why would you do something so painful?" Goofy rubbed his own head.

Sora sent him a scowl. "Guys, Kairi and I are…well, different. She thinks straightly, while I jump head-first in the situation. She thinks creatively, while I just see what's in front of me."

Goofy rubbed his chin. "So, you don't think you and Kairi shouldn't be together because you're different?"

"That's not a good reason!" Donald shouted.

Sora rubbed his eyes. "I think she needs someone as open-eyed as her."

Donald looked sad. "Sora.."

BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!

Goofy was so startled, he fell from his seat. "What's going on?" Sora asked.

Donald looked at the computer screen. "We're heading for a new world!"

Goofy smiled and got back into his seat. "Oh boy! Where to next?"

Donald looked at the screen closely. "It says, 'New Orleans'?" He turned to face his two friends. "Ever heard of it?"

The two boys shook their heads. "New Orleans? Where's the old one?" Goofy wanted to know.

Sora shrugged and waited as they slowly descended to the strangely named world.

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It was raining and thundering, a classic horror scene. There was marsh hanging everywhere that could easily be mistaken as a hag's hair. Despite the creepiness, the creatures of the night fled as a golden beam of light shot from the sky.

"Woooaahh!!' Sora yelped as he fell into the marsh. Sputtering, he picked himself up and looked at the dreary surroundings. "New Orleans is a _swamp_? Then what did the old one look like?"

He pulled out his keyblade (like he always did when entering an unfamiliar world), and gasped at the sight of his hands. They were green!

Startled, he dropped the sword and examined the rest of his body. He had webbed feet, but still had his chain necklace. He reached the top of his head to find he still had some hair left. Gulping, he looked into the swamp's water and barely made out a frog staring back at him!

"AHHHHHHH!!" Sora shouted as he fell into the water again. "Donald! I know we usually change into strange creatures when we enter a new world, but c'mon! A _frog?"_

Donald finally made his way to the surface to reveal himself as a small alligator with a beak. "It was appropriate! We're in a _bayou!"_

"How come _you _got to be a cool gator?"

"Because there's no birds in the bayou!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Where's Goofy?" he wanted to know.

"Hey fellas!" Goofy slowly swam up to them in the form of a brown turtle.

"How are we supposed to find _anyone _in this swamp? I mean, I can't see an inch- why are those logs moving?" Sora asked.

Brown, lumpy forms began to creep towards them. They heard snickering coming from the largest one.

"Sora…those aren't logs!" Donald groaned.

Suddenly, the largest one stood up to reveal a huge alligator-like heartless.

"**Heartless!!!" **All three shouted. Sora frowned and drew his keyblade back. He sprung towards the enemy with extraordinary height, and cut the heartless in the face.

"Sora! Those froggy legs sure help you jump higher!" Goofy shouted as he sprung his shield at another gator/heartless.

Donald raised his staff and muttered, "Their in the water, so they must be weak against THUNDER!!" Thunder bolts fell from the sky and struck the heartless.

The gator/heartless threw back his tail and struck the three friends against a tree trunk. Sora glared and pulled back his sword. "Sonic Blade!" he called as he threw it at the heartless, causing them to disperse.

"Way to go, Sora!!" Goofy congratulated.

"Man, this is hard. I feel so tiny!" Sora complained. He rubbed his head where he had hit the trunk. He paused as he heard scuffling inside it. "Huh, is someone in there?"

"Sora!!" Donald called as more gator/heartless appeared from the water.

"Aw, man!!" Sora whined as he drew his keyblade again. "Looks like another fight!"

"Sora, look!" Goofy cried out as a vine appeared from the trunk's hole. "Do ya think it's safe?"

The heartless got on their feet. "Safer than here!!" Sora shouted as he grabbed the vine and scaled the tree. Donald and Goofy hesitated.

"RRRAARRRRRHHH!!!" The gator/heartless roared.

"AHHHHHH!!!" Donald and Goofy cried as they followed Sora in pursuit.

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Sora, Donald, and Goofy sighed in relief as the collapsed against the tree's wall. "Man, those heartless were huge!! And they came in packs!!" Sora sighed.

"Are you three all right?" A feminine voice asked.

Sora looked up to find a pretty, green frog looking at him concerned. "We're fine. Thanks for helping us."

The girl frog smiled. "I hope those gators didn't hurt you. They scary creatures, ain't they?"

Sora was about to respond when yet another frog walked over towards them. This one was darker in color and had light brown eyes. "Yes, those things could have killed you. It is a good thing Tiana and I were there to help you." Sora noticed this frog had a heavy accent.

He was, yet again, trying to say something, but the girl frog (apparently named 'Tiana') glared at him. "What are you talking about? _I'm _the one who actually did something to help! You just looked out the hole and said 'they're doomed'."

The boy frog shrugged. "We do not need to go into details."

Tiana threw her hands in the air. "Ugh! You're such a brat!"

"_I'm _a brat? Who cannot stop insulting me for two seconds?"

"I'll insult you as much as I want! I'm only here 'cause of you!"

Sora was confused. The 'Tiana' frog had seemed so sweet when she had saved him, but now she seemed so…cranky. "Um, I'm Sora. This is Donald and Goofy."

Tiana smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Tiana, and that lazy bump-on-a-log over there is Naveen."

Naveen walked up to them proudly. "_Prince _Naveen of Maldonia."

Sora's held back a laugh. "_Prince? _You're just a frog! How can you be prince of anything?"

Naveen looked depressed. "Well, I was not always a frog. I used to be an amazingly handsome human, until-"

"-until this goon went around messing with the Shadow Man!" Tiana interrupted.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Shadow Man?"

Naveen shrugged. "He is this witch doctor who lives in Louisiana. Because I am not from this world, I had no knowledge that this man was wicked. So, for no reason at all, he changed me into a frog!"

_So, Naveen's a prince from a world called 'Maldonia'? And the villain of this world changed him into a frog…_Sora thought. "So…where does Tiana come in?"

Naveen rubbed his eyes. "_Faldi Faldonza, _you got her started…"

"You want to know where _I _come in? I was just minding my own business, trying to earn up enough munny to get my restaurant when this _liar _promised me he would give me the money if I kissed him!"

The three heroes were confused. "Kiss…him?" Donald asked.

Naveen waved his hand. "Do you not know _De Frogi Pruto?_"

They gave him a blank look.

The prince sighed. "'The Frog Prince'?"

Sora tapped his chin. "I…think I heard that story when I was a kid….wait, you made a plan based off a book?!"

Naveen was quiet. "Whether it was ridiculous or not, _she _agreed to kiss me on her own free will!"

Tiana balled her hands into tiny fists. "You _lied! _You have no money! You were cut off!"

Sora looked at Naveen. "You _lied _to an innocent woman to get what you want? Look, I'm sorry, prince or no prince, that's just wrong!"

"Thank you!" Tiana smiled.

Naveen rolled his eyes. "I just asked her to kiss me! Not jump off a building! And it was not a lie! I fully intended to give her the money once I marry the wealthy Charlotte LaBouff!"

"That still wasn't very fair of ya!" Goofy argued.

Donald shrugged. "What's the big deal? It was just a kiss!"

Tiana looked down at her body. "It didn't turn out to be _just _a kiss, Donald."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked. He watched as Tiana motioned to her green form. "Oh no."

"Oh yes! The kiss turned _me _into a frog! Now we have to find someone who can break this spell!"

Goofy frowned at Naveen. "Prince Naveen, you really ought to apologize to her! You got her changed into a frog!"

Naveen was about to protest, but Donald interrupted, "Hey, he didn't _make _her kiss him! How was he supposed to know what would happen?"

"I'm just sayin' he should be helping out of this was all his fault!"

"Yeah, but it was an accident! He's having a hard time too!"

While Sora listened to his friend's argument, he turned back to the two frogs. "Well, we're on a journey too, we're trying to find our friends."

"Really? Do you have any clue where they might be?" Tiana asked.

Sora sighed. "I'm not even sure they're here. I'm kinda traveling world to world trying to find them."

Naveen looked intrigued. "A little frog like you has traveled to other worlds? _Ashidanza!"_

"Did he just cuss us out?" Goofy whispered to Donald.

Sora scratched his head. "Well, this might surprise you, but I'm not a frog either. I'm a human too!"

"What?" Tiana gasped.

"Well _that _explains why he has hair!" Naveen pointed to the boy's head.

Tiana crossed her arms across her chest. "Have you been messing with the Shadow Man?"

Sora laughed. "No, we have some magic of our own!"

Tiana smiled. "Really? I don't suppose-"

"Sorry, it only works for us," Goofy sighed.

Naveen groaned. "Figures."

Sora looked at his keyblade. "If it's O.K with you guys, could we tag along with you? I think we're heading in the same direction."

Tiana pondered this. "Well, I will need some help, and since the royal pain won't lift a finger, you can really come in handy!"

"Great!" Donald cried.

"Yes, but first we rest!" Naveen yawned. "I am tired!"

"Hey-" Tiana began.

"Actually Tiana, I have to agree with Naveen there. It's late and we have to wake up early in the morning," Sora said.

Tiana groaned but laid down on the trunk. Sora smiled as he and the rest of the team laid down with her. He pondered about his two new friends. _Tiana seems like a hard worker…if a little cranky, but I guess she has every right to be. And Naveen? Well, he seems a bit self-centered, but not a bad guy. I wonder what adventures we'll have with these two polar opposites…._

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**Well? Did I portray them nicely? I'll update when I can. P.S Some lines from the movie will be given to Sora.**


	2. Meet Louis

**Just so you know, I'm only going to write out the song 'Ma Belle Evangeline' and **_**maybe **_**'Dig a little Deeper' for two reasons: Kingdom Hearts had only included songs in **_**one **_**world, and because I don't know how to write lyrics so well, so including some for Sora and pals would be hard.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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Morning soon approached for our heroes as sunlight poured into the tree. Sora yawned as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. It would appear he was the first one up, for Goofy, Donald, and Naveen were still-

Wait a minute. They were missing a member. "Tiana?" Sora whispered. The she-frog he met last night was not in the tree. "Tiana? Tiana, where are you?" he called a little louder. _Oh no…what if the heartless got her?!_ he though to himself.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora called to his friends in desperation.

Doanld and Goofy woke up with a start. "Sora? This better be good!" Donald complained.

Sora looked around once more. "It is! Guys, Tiana is gone!"

Donald and Goofy tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

Sora groaned. "Y'know? The girl-turned-frog we met last night?"

"Oh!" They said in unison.

"What do ya think happened to her?" Goofy asked, concerned.

Donald shook his head. "Those heartless…attacking a damsel in distress while we're sleeping! How low can you go?"

Sora crossed his arms. "I don't know Donald, she didn't really seem like the rescuing type…"

Goofy tilted his head. "Gawrsh, Maybe we ought to wake the prince up. He should know about this!"

Sora looked aver at the sleeping frog. "What for? I mean, judging by last night, he didn't really seem to like her….still.." He walked over to the prince and shook his shoulder. "Pssst, Prince Naveen!"

Naveen only murmured in response. Sora sighed and gave his friends a tired look. "Naveen! Wake up! We might have some trouble!" Nothing.

By now, Donald was losing his patience. "Hey you big palooka! Wake up!" he shouted. Nada.

"Gawrsh, he sure can sleep!" Goofy moaned.

Donald frowned. "I think he's ignoring us on purpose!"

Sora tapped his 'chin.' "Well, I think-"

"Incoming!!" Goofy shouted as a single acorn fell into the tree and hit the prince on his noggin.

"Ow!" he cried, finally awake. He sent a glare to Sora and his friends. Sora smiled sheepishly and pointed above him.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. The heartless are gone," came Tiana's voice.

"Tiana!" Donald cried out in joy.

"Oh boy! She's O.K!" Goofy smiled.

Sora helped Naveen to his feet. "C'mon, let's get going before she throws something heavier at you."

With a lot of effort from Donald and Goofy, the four friends left the tree to find Tiana standing on a hand made raft. "Wow! Tiana, did you make this yourself?" Sora asked.

Tiana blushed and said, "I've been working hard my whole life, making a ride is no challenge. Now, we have to get back to New Orleans and fix this mess _the prince _got us into!"

Naveen plucked a small branch with spider webs. "I was not the one parading around wearing a phoney-baloney tiara," he said, simply.

Tiana sighed. "Sora, help me out here, would ya?" Sora nodded and grabbed a huge stick. He went to the front of the raft and helped Tiana row the boat while Donald and Goofy tried kicking in the back.

They all noticed Naveen wasn't doing anything, except playing his new ukulele. "Ah, river-side music to travel by," he said.

Sora looked over his shoulder. "Uh Naveen? We could use a little help."

Naveen snapped out of his peaceful state. "Oh, I will play a little louder!" And he did just that.

Donald fumed. "Ak! Are you seriously gonna just _sit _there while we do all the work?"

Tiana didn't even bother to turn her head. "I warned ya'll."

Sora set down his stick. "Naveen, knock it off. Just because you're a prince doesn't mean you don't have to cooperate."

Naveen opened one eye. "What? I am giving us music to travel by!"

Tiana finally turned around. "How about a little less pickin' and a little more-" she stopped with a gasp. Confused, Sora turned towards her gaze and saw a huge alligator rise from the water. Shouting, he drew his keyblade while Tiana and Naveen got a hold on one another.

"Guys, get ready to-"

"I know that tune! _Dipper Mouth Blues!"_The alligator said, cheerfully. With that he began blowing on a trumpet that actually made Sora want to tap his flipper.

"Uh, Sora? Is this some sort of attack?" Goofy whispered.

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. He doesn't _seem _heartless." _In fact, he seems quiet the opposite…_

Naveen noticed this too and instantly dropped Tiana. "Play it, brother!" With that, the prince picked up his ukulele and played along with the gator.

Sora sighed and helped Tiana to her feet. "He… um, sure loves jazz, huh?"

Donald and Goofy had actually left Tiana unnoticed and were tapping there feet to the beat. "Think whatever you want about him, but that prince can _play!"_ Donald laughed.

One the alligator and Naveen played the final notes, they both burst out laughing. The alligator swung Naveen around saying, "Where have you been all my life?"

"Where did _you _learn to play like that?"

The alligator twirled his trumpet. "Well, The bayou is the best jazz school in the world! All the greats play in their riverboats!" He got a dreamy look on his face. "Ol' Louis would give _anything _to be up there jammin' with the big boys!"

Sora tapped his flipper. _So…his name in 'Louis?' A jazz playing alligator named Louis…it's amazing who you'll meet in a new world!_

"Well, why don't ya?" Goofy asked Louis.

Louis smiled. "Oh, I tried…it didn't end well."

"Why not?" Donald asked and grunted as Sora jabbed his elbow in the duck/alligator's side.

"Donald, I think it might be a _little _hard for a huge, ferocious alligator to perform for a bunch of humans."

Tiana walked up to the circle. "Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you Louis and thank you kindly for not eating us, but we must be on our way." With that, she grabbed Naveen and Sora's arm and dragged them towards her raft.

Louis looked disappointed. "Wha-? Where ya'll going?"

Tiana handed Sora his stick. "To find someone to break this spell."

Louis raised an eyebrow. "What spell?"

Naveen stood up. "Brace yourself, my scaly friend. We are not frogs, we are humans!"

Louis was quiet for a second, then he fell on the ground laughing. "Hey! You're a jazz-playing alligator! Who are you to laugh?" Sora accused.

Louis looked up. "Ya'll serious?"

Naveen gave a little bow. "I am Naveen! _Prince _of Maldonia!" He gestured towards Sora and the others. "This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they are new here. And that is Tiana, the waitress." He leaned in close to Louis. "Do _not _kiss her."

"Ooh, burn!" Donald muttered.

Tiana's eyes widened. "Now wait just a minute!" She hopped over and pointed an accusing finger at Naveen. "This goon got himself turned into a frog by a voodoo man and-"

"Voodoo?" Louis panicked. "Like the kind Mama Odie do?"

Sora exchanged a look with his friends. "Mama Odie?" he asked.

Louis nodded. "Mama Odie! She the Voodoo Queen of the bayou! She's got magic and spells…all kids of hoodoo!"

Tiana and Naveen smiled. "Can you take us to her?" they asked in unison.

Louis wrung his hands together. "Travel to the deepest, darkest part of the bayou with traps, facing razor-sharp pricker bushes, heartless, and trappers with GUNS?!"

"Yeah!" Goofy smiled, oblivious to the gator's fear.

"No," Louis said simply, and went back to playing his trumpet.

"Aw, c'mon Louis! We really need your help!" Sora begged. He didn't get a response. He sighed and looked at his new friends. "Sorry guys, looks like a no-go."

Naveen smiled and patted his shoulder. "Watch and learn, my young friend." He walked up to Louis and leaned against the tree. "Louis it is a shame we cannot help you with your dream. Perhaps if you were smaller…less toothy. You could play jazz to adoring crowds without scaring them!" He sent Sora a wink before saying, "Anyway, enjoy your loneliness, my friend! _Abinaza!"_

He returned to Sora and the others, with a smug grin on his face. "A little self-centered, aren't we?" Goofy frowned.

Tiana rolled her eyes. "Cute, but it's not going to-"

Naveen raised a finger, paused, then pointed behind him. "Hey!" Louis appeared behind them. "I just had a crazy idea! What if I asked Mama Odie to turn _me _human?"

Naveen smiled. "Louis!" He grabbed Tiana and Sora's hands and jumped on the gators head. "You are a genius!"

"Hallelujah!" Luis cried as he jumped in the water. "Just imagine! Once I turn into a human, I'm going to be the best jazz player in the world! I'll show the whole world what I can do!" As they began to paddle off, he looked at the prince. "Naveen, what you gonna do once you're human?"

Naveen smiled and gave Sora a nudge with his elbow, as if saying he wanted the boy to hear this. "I'm going to have the life I had before. "I'm going to have a great big party every night, full of jazz and women!"

Goofy tilted his head. "Uh…and then what?"

Naveen gave him a look. "What do you mean 'then what'?"

"Is that all you're gonna do with you life? Throw parties with random women?"

Sora heard Tiana chuckle a bit, but Naveen shrugged. "What more do I need? Isn't having fun the reason we are put on this world?"

Sora scratched his head. "Um, shouldn't you be preparing to take the throne as king?"

Naveen waved his hand. "There is _plenty _of time for that! Right now, I just want to have fun! I will be throwing a big party soon. Sora, my young friend, you can be the guest of honor!"

Sora smiled a fake smile. _MAN, this guy is complicated. He seems really irresponsible, but still a nice guy…I don't know what I think about him…_

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, your highness, but you're getting married to Charlotte! There will be no more partying with women for you! Don't forget our deal!" Tiana snapped.

Naveen sighed. "Oh right, I just have to leave a string of broken hearts behind me."

Sora looked a Tiana. "What deal?"

Tiana folded her arms across her chest. "Remember when I said this goon promised me the munny if I kissed him?" Sora nodded. "Well, he lied. So we struck a new deal. If I helped him get out of this swamp, he'd get me the munny as soon as he married Charlotte. That's the only reason I'm sticking with him."

"Oh.." Sora whispered. _Maybe he's NOT such a nice guy…_"So, what's with this restaurant anyway, Tiana?"

Tiana smiled. "I've been working two jobs my whole life to earn the restaurant my daddy wanted. It's going to be the best food service in the city!"

"It would be cooler if it had a drive-thru in space…" Donald muttered.

Tiana raised an eyebrow. "What's a drive-thru?"

Sora shrugged. "Not important, but here's another question: Why doesn't your dad earn the munny himself?"

Sora wished he could take back those words once he saw the look on her face. "He worked his whole life for that restaurant…..up until his death." Tears shined in her eyes.

Sora stood up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tiana. It really wasn't any of my business. He would be very proud of you for working so hard!"

Tiana wiped her eyes and gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks Sora…what about you? Didn't you say you were trying to find some friends? What's the story there?"

Sora noticed Naveen and Louis had begun to pay attention to them. "Yes, I to would like to know more about these friends," Naveen said.

Sora sat down. "Well, I'm looking for two of them. The first one is Riku." He sighed a bit. "We've…had a lot of spats and misunderstandings in the past, but he's still like a brother to me. He made a huge sacrifice to defeat the heartless when I last saw him, so I've been looking for him to set things right."

Naveen gave Tiana a look. "It is good to forgive and forget, yes?" He only got a scoff.

Sora swallowed the lump that was in her throat. "The next one is Kairi."

Louis waved his eyebrows. "Is that you _girl?"_

Sora toyed with his fingers. "Um, well, uh…"

"Yes," Donald and Goofy said in unison.

Sora glared at them. 'It's _undecided." _He looked back at his new friends. "See, she was kidnapped by a man named Axel."

Tiana gasped. "Oh, that's terrible!" Naveen didn't say anything, but Sora saw him frown.

"Who's Axel? You evil twin who's jealous that you got the girl because his face is horribly twisted?" Louis asked. Everyone stared at him. "What? It could happen…"

Sora coughed. "Uh…no. Axel is a member of Organization 13. I don't know why he kidnapped her, but I intend to find her and bring her home!"

Tiana smiled. "Don't you worry, Sora. You just keep believing in your friends and you'll find them!"

Sora sighed. _I sure hope so…_

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"What are you doing out here like that?!" Dr. Facilier a.k.a the Shadow Man groaned.

Lawrence, Naveen' ballet showed the Shadow Man the talisman. "It-It's this ghastly thing! It's out of blood!"

Facilier snatched it from his hands and noticed it was no longer glowing red. His shadow, that seemed to have a will of its own, growled angrily. "No! Gr, did you at _least _propose to Miss Charlotte LaBouff?"

Lawrence nodded. "Yes! She _completely _believes she's marrying the prince of Maldonia!"

Faciler glared at him. "What a shock she'll get once she discovers who you _really _are!"

Lawrence gulped. "What are we going to do?"

"Because _somebody _let our little froggy friend go Larry, I'm going to have to actually take that man up on his offer!"

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "_What _man?"

Faciler toyed with his cane. "A blue-haired man in a black coat. He has strange powers of his own and he wants to form an alliance. I believe his name was….Saix."

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**Yeah, I wrote the last scene a little different from the movie, just because Sora isn't there, there's no point in resiting what you already know. Have you all noticed Saix was never sent to a world? I decided to use him for this world.**

**P.S Stay aware that 'money' is spelled 'munny' in Kingdom Hearts! (I never understood that!)**


	3. Meet Ray

**Wow, I never thought I would get this manyreviews! Just so you know, updates will be slower for awhile due to my EOC's and Semester Exams! I'll try to squeeze in some chapters when I have some free time.**

**Disclaimer: I neither own anything, nor do I mean to offend McDonalds…you'll see later. I also don't own CiCi's Pizza…but MAN if I did…**

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"So Sora, tell me more about these 'drive-thrus'," Tiana proclaimed as the three frogs rode on Louis through the bayou, while Donald and Goofy swam beside them.

"Well, you just appear at a window and they deliver your food there," Sora explained.

"Sounds a bit low class," Naveen muttered.

Tiana tilted her head. "But, if you're outside, how are you going to enjoy the beauty _inside?"_

Sora thought about the McDonalds-in-space he had encountered. "Well…restaurants with drive-thrus usually don't have much to show off, they're usually just shacks with food."

Tiana smiled. "Well, _my _restaurant ain't gonna be just some shack! It's going to be the most beautiful place you've ever eaten in!"

Goofy smiled up at her. "Is it gonna have etouffee?"

Tiana looked down at him. "Jambalaya, Gumbo, it's gonna have it all!"

Louis licked his lips. "I've always wanted to try red beans and rice, moffulettes, po' boys…"

Donald got a dreamy look on his face. "There would have to be lobsters the size of a whale!"

"And powdered chocolate pizza!" Sora announced. He noticed everyone sent him a questioning look. "What? You guys have never been to CiCi's? Where have you _been?"_

Naveen gave a soft chuckle. "Please everyone, stop." He gave his tummy a little rub. "You are making me so very hungry!"

Goofy groaned. "Gawrsh, sure wish we had packed something…" He looked up as he saw a couple of flies fly by.

Sora noticed Naveen's tongue flicker a bit. "Interesting," the prince muttered. With that, he dove off Louis and swam towards the insects.

"Aw no! Don't tell me he's gonna-!" Donald quacked.

Tiana turned her head at this. "What are you doin'?" she ridiculed.

Naveen sent her a glance. "Sshh! You are frightening the food!" he whispered.

Sora groaned. "Naveen! You want to talk about low class! Eating bugs is as low as it gets!"

But the prince seemed to ignore the young boy and he flicked his tongue at the insects, only to have it snap back and wrap around his head. "Oh boy, this is harder than it looks….Sora, would you mind helping me catch dinner?"

Sora shuddered. "Naveen, gross! You actually kiss girls with what you eat?"

Naveen stood up and brushed himself off. "I thought little boys _liked _things like eating bugs!"

Sora glared at him. If there was _one _thing the boy couldn't stand….it was reality T.V, but being called a little boy was a strong second! "Hey! I happen to be 15 years old!"

Tiana rolled her eyes. "You _do _know you're falling right into his trap, right?"

Naveen groaned. "Sora, we either eat the flies or we starve. Your choice."

Sora placed a webbed finger to his chin. "I have to think about it." At that note, his stomach growled loudly. "Um…all right." He turned towards Donald and Goofy. "But Kairi _never _finds out!" With that, he followed Naveen in the water. "Tiana? You want to help out?"

Tiana frowned at him. "Oh no! There is no way I am kissin' a frog and eatin' a bug, all on the same day!"

Goofy cleared his throat. "Uh technically, that happened yesterday." He earned a glare from the she-frog.

Sora shrugged and shot out his tongue…nothing. "Hold on, I know I got this!" With that, he shot with an even harder force….only to grab a branch and have it slam in his mouth. "Hrrrmmm.." he groaned.

Tiana stifled a giggle, but instantly stopped when _her _tongue started to flicker! "What? Oh No! No, no, no…" But she had no choice but to follow her tongue.

Sora tried desperately to get the branch from his mouth. He glared up at the prince. "Mabeen? Mi coof ume ma libble hef!"

Naveen gave him a blank stare. "I'm sorry, I did not understand a word of that." His eyes wandered to a huge fly sitting on a dandelion. Licking his lips, he crept his way towards the fly….completely unaware of Tiana's tongue leading her in the same direction!

Sora finally got the branch from his mouth and looked up at the prince. "You know, if you're not going to help _at all_, then you might as well-"

But he didn't get to finish, for at that moment, both Tiana and Naveen shot their tongues out, missed the fly, grabbed _each other's _tongues, and slammed into each other in a forced kiss.

Sora hopped over towards them with a look of astonishment mixed with humor. "Gee….wow…you two are like…with your tongues…and…wow."

They both gave him a glare as they stood up with their tongues tied together. "Hold still!" Tiana cried.

"You are making this very difficult!" Naveen groaned.

Sora smiled a sheepish smile. "It's times like this I wish I had a camera."

He nearly jumped as Louis, Donald, and Goofy appeared from the tall grass. "Ya'll find anything to eat yet, I-" Louis noticed the frogs' problem and muttered under his breath. "Oh my…"

Goofy sent Sora a look. "Sora! I don't feel comfortable watching this…"

Donald was looking at the two frogs back and forth. "Wak! You two _hated _each other like what, two minutes ago? And NOW we find you two….like this!"

Sora smiled as Tiana and Naveen began shouting something he couldn't make out due to their 'tongue twister'.

Louis smiled. "Don't worry, I'll fix this!" He grabbed the two frogs and began twisting them around each other, causing them to be wrapped in each other's tongues from head to toe. He set them down. "There! How's that?"

Goofy closed his eyes as Sora smiled and shook his head. "If only Riku was here…"

"This could be a little better," Tiana said.

"I'll bet you're secretly enjoying this, aren't you?" Donald chuckled.

Tiana gave him a hard glare. "Sora, would you give that boy a smack upside his head? I can't reach."

Before Sora could do anything, Louis announced, "You know what this needs? A sharp stick! Be back in a jiff!" With that, he left the party, singing jazz the whole way.

An uncomfortable silence fell on the team as Sora stared down at his flippers. "So…you guys seen any good movies lately?"

Tiana sighed. "This is all your fault!" she said, addressing Naveen.

Naveen rolled his eyes. "My fault, my fault, let me tell you, I was having a wonderful time-"

"Stop moving!" Tiana growled.

Sora sighed an exasperated sigh and sent his friends a hopeless look. "Man, these two just don't stop, do they?"

Goofy tilted his head. "Well, you gotta remember when we all first met, you and Donald didn't get along well either!"

"Yeah but-"

"Coo! Well, Lookie here!"

Sora jumped and turned around to see a firefly with red hair and bad teeth. The bug made his way to Sora and friends. "Ain't you just the strangest darn creatures I ever don see! Ya'll look all mutatatered!"

Sora scratched the back of his neck. "Um….well, we're just-"

But the insect moved over to the two frogs. "Hoo girl! Looks like you and your boyfriend got a lil' carried away!" He winked at her and gave her a little nudge. "Am I right? Am I right?"

Sora shrugged and decided to be obnoxious. "Well, that's the problem with two frogs in love, you just can't seem to keep them apart!"

Tiana shook her head (or at least tried to), "No, no, no, no! This ain't my boyfriend!"

Naveen's protests were jumbled with hers. "Do not be ridiculous! I am the prince of Maldonia!"

The fly seemed to ignore them and said, "Here, let me shine a lil' light on this situation!" He grunted, trying to get his light to flash on…but the result was breaking wind.

Sora held his 'nose'. "Um…ew?"

The bug smiled sheepishly. " ' Scues me. One more time now!" He tried shaking his butt, as a result, there was a flash but nothing more. With a sigh, he turned his light as if it were a light bulb. Surprisingly, that seemed to do the trick as his rear glowed with radiance. "That's more better, yeah!"

He noticed Tiana looked uncomfortable. "Naw, it's O.K, baby. I don't explode me. I ain't no Fire-CRACKA!" He turned around to show her his rear. "I just got my big butt glowin' that's all! Oooh, Women love a man with a big back porch!"

Sora looked at Donald. "Do you have _any _idea what this guy is saying?"

Goofy answered the question himself," Sure! He' sayin' he can help out 'cause his light is bright enough to see through their tangled mess. And his butt attracts women."

Sora should've known Goofy spoke bayou talk.

The firefly stared at the mess of tongues. "Lord you done this up real good, for sure!" He found the tip of someone's tongue and muttered, "Now where this go to at?" He flew over towards Sora, still holding the end to the tongue. "Spikes! You mind holdin' this 'ere end?"

Sora shuddered. "You…want me to hold their _tongue?"_

The firefly quickly shoved it towards him. "You be 'avin' the right idea!"

Sora wanted to help of course…but why was it when it came to helping his new friends, he had to do something disgusting? Hesitantly, he grabbed on to the tongue.

"Nows, ya'll hold that while I don find the utter end!" He flew towards the frogs again and said, "Hang on Cap, I'm just gonna give a lil' twist here…." He squeezed in between the two frogs, so that he was in the center of the mess. "Hoo! We're getting to know each other now!"

Sora could hear the bug humming as he worked while noticing his light seeping through the frogs like a disco ball. "Whose is this anyway?" he asked, holding up the end of the tongue.

Both of them seemed to consider, but they both had no idea.

Donald and Goofy gave a little jump as the firefly appeared from out of the forest of tongues with another end of a tongue. "-Round fishin' time!" he finished his song. With a yank, he pulled the two frogs apart, and let go of the tongue.

It was at that moment Sora realized he had been holding _Naveen's_ tongue. He dropped it with a shudder. "Oh…that's…gross."

Donald smiled. "Hey, that wasn't so bad was-" He didn't get to finish, because Tiana had hit him upside his head. "Ow!"

"That's for that comment earlier!" She growled.

Sora gave a nervous chuckle, hoping the short-tempered woman didn't remember _his _comment.

The fly brushed off his hands. "'Bout time I introduced myself! My name Raymond, but everybody call me Ray!"

Naveen looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Pardon me but, your accent…it's funny, no?"

"Naveen, your accent isn't exactly 'normal' either!" Sora growled. Seriously, did this guy even _care _how his words affected people?

But Ray didn't seem to be offended. "Oh I'm a Cajun, brah! Born and bred in the bayou!" He looked at Sora again. "Ya'll must be new around here, huh?"

Naveen brushed himself off and stood up from the water. "Well, we are from a place far, far way from here!"

Ray gave a chuckle. "Go to bed! Ya'll from Shreveport?"

Sora tilted his head. "Uh….where? He meant we're people!"

Tiana gestured towards Naveen. "Prince Charmin' here got himself turned into a frog by a voodoo witch doctor!"

Naveen gave a careless smile as Ray said, "Well, there you go!"

Sora pointed behind him. "And we were on our way to Mama Odie's when-"

"Whoa! Mama Odie?" Ray interrupted.

"Yeah, we were hoping she could help Tiana and Naveen!" Donald announced.

Ray turned back to Sora. "Why, you headin' in the wrong direction, Spikes! Now what kinda chuckle head told ya'll to head thisa way?"

Louis chose that minute to return to the clearing. "I found a stick!" he shouted.

Everyone gave him a disapproving look. "Louis…" Tiana said, in a warning tone.

"Rays says you're taking us the wrong way! What up, man?" Sora finished.

Louis dropped the stick. "Uh hehe, I was- well listen. I was confused by the topography and-and the geography and the…choreography!"

"Louis, choreography is dancing!" Goofy corrected.

Ray leaned into Sora. "First rule 'O the bayou: Never take directions from a gator!" He placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. And then, as if God was lending his hand in darkness, the sky lit up with shining fireflies.

"Whoa…." Sora breathed.

"Achidanza!" Naveen whispered.

"Why me and my relationals will show ya'll the way!" Ray shouted. "C'mon Spike! Just follow the bouncing butt!" With that all the fireflies formed a line and made their way through the bayou, lighting a path.

"Thanks Ray!" Tiana shouted. "Sora, c'mon!" She and Naveen hopped ahead on some lily pads with Louis in the water.

"Hey, wait up!" Sora called. The three friends hurried to catch up. "Hey! For a couple of frogs, you're pretty-Ah!" He stopped in his tracks as three heartless/gators appeared in front of them. Sorafrowned and drew his keyblade. "Aw, I knew it was only a matter of time!"

He rushed towards the first one and hit him three times in the stomach. The first heartless was stunned for a bit, but the second one scratched him on his head.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted, striking the three creatures. The third one was barely touched however, and quickly swung his tail, hitting Sora. Sora grunted, but stayed focused and attacked the second heartless that was coming up behind him.

The second heartless dispersed as Goofy swung his shield at it, leaving only two heartless left. "Good work, Goofy!" Sora complimented.

They noticed that Donald was attacking the first and third with fire attacks. "Donald!" Sora called, as he cast a cure spell on his friend.

"Thank you!" Donald shouted. Goofy began to spin until he formed into a tornado, knocking the third heartless down and causing it to disperse.

With only one left, Sora pointed his keyblade at the creature and shouted, "Ice!" With that, the final heartless was gone.

"Good work everybody!" Donald smiled.

Sora looked down at the munny the heartless left behind and picked it up. "Hey guys…I've got 60 munny here."

"Maybe now you can buy that new key chain you wanted!" Goofy suggested.

Sora toyed with the munny in his hands. "Hm…you know what guys? I think I'll give this to Tiana. She really needs the munny more than I do."

Donald tilted his head. "Do you really think she'll take the munny from you? I mean, she's really independent. It would appear she likes doing everything on her own."

Sora pondered this. "She's taking munny from Naveen."

"Yeah, but he owes her." Goofy said.

Sora shrugged. "I don't know, I guess we won't know until we offer it."

"Hey Spikes!" Sora turned his head to see Ray fly towards him. "Where you been? We all ova der!" Sora nodded and followed the fly.

* * *

Dr. Facilier grumbled to himself as he walked into his shop. _He _the master of making deals had to turn to someone _else _for a bargain! How ironic…

"So…have you thought about my offer?"

Facilier frowned as he looked at the blue-haired man leaning against the wall. "So…you're telling me you can give me even more power _without _voodoo?"

Saix brushed his hair aside. "Well, your voodoo will make it more powerful." He reached out his hand. "Permit me to see some of your 'voodoo magic'."

Facilier was hesitant, but he gave a bag of his voodoo dust to the mysterious man. Saix smiled, took the dust, and concentrated all his energy on the magic until it glowed white.

Facilier was actually stunned as some strange creatures appeared before him. They seemed to be dark figures that burned with black flames. "By giving the heartless voodoo powers, they have become twice as strong. They will obey you, but for a price."

Facilier pondered at the ferociousness of these 'heartless'. "And what would this price be? 'Cause I've already sold my soul.." he said, looking uneasily at the masks on the wall.

Saix followed his gaze. "I have no interest for souls, but hearts. As soon as you dispose of that huge father of Charlotte's, your plan is to give your 'friends' all the souls of New Orleans. I want the hearts."

Facilier rubbed his chin. "That's all you want?"

Saix faced him once again. "No. Not just New Orleans. I want the prince's heart as well."

Facilier thought that sounded fair. "So…we divide the citizens 50/50?"

"Precisely," Saix said, as he held out his hand.

Faciler looked at the heartless then turned to Saix. "Deal," he said as he shook his hand.

Saixnodded and placed a strange aura over the Shadow Man. "The heartless will obey you now, but do not screw this up."

Facilier didn't like to be told what to do, but he had work to do. "Now we're cookin'! All right heartless, we gonna find ourselves a frog! Search everywhere! The bayou, the city, bring him to me alive! I need his heart pumpin'….for now. Go!"

The voodoo heartless smiled evil smiles as they slinked out of the shop and towards the bayou, using the scent of Naveen's heart as their guide…

* * *

**Remember, the heartless side with whoever's the strongest, so Saix can control them. The next update might take awhile but just be patient. By the way, **_**Cyclone One **_**came up with Sora trying to earn munny for Tiana. It's to help build up their friendship!**


	4. Meet the Frog Hunters

**WOW! I haven't updated in so long! I'm sorry, I've just been very busy! Well, here's my latest chapter!**

**P.S- The lines may not match the movie exactly in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I really don't.**

* * *

Once the team had reached a well lit area, they all said their good-byes to Ray's family. Sora was about to make his way forward until he heard Ray shout:

"You tell Fee-Fee that 'ol Ray-Ray said _bonjure!"_

Hearing that, Sora smiled up at the firefly. "Who's that? Your girl?"

Ray quickly flew down to the boy's face. "Oh no, no, no! _My _girl…that's Evangeline."

Tiana turned her head to join the conversation. "Evangeline?"

Ray got a dreamy look on his face. "She the most beautiful firefly that ever did glow," he said as he gave a little squeal. "Yep, we talk most every night. She kinda shy. Don't say much. But I know, in my heart, we gonna be together, yeah."

Sora gently wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yeah…I know exactly how you feel."

"That's so sweet!" Tiana said.

Both of these touched frogs turned their heads as they heard a yawn come from the prince. "Yes, so sweet," Naveen muttered, as if the speech bored him. "Just…don't be so quick to settle down, my friend. There are _plenty _of fireflies out there."

Tiana huffed, while grabbing a stick to swat away the branches of the pricker bush.

"_Now _what did I do?" Naveen grumbled.

Sora crossed his arms across his chest. "Naveen…don't you love _anybody _besides yourself?"

The prince seemed to pause, and then gave a little shrug. "I do not know…maybe. It is not important."

"How can you say it's not _important? _I mean, what's the point in life if you don't have any friends?" By now, Sora was fed up with Naveen's selfishness.

Naveen frowned. "I will have you know, I am fabulously rich when it comes to friends."

Sora scoffed. "Really? Do they like you? Or do they like your munny?"

"Hmph!" Naveen huffed, but the younger boy could see some hurt across the prince's face.

Sora instantly felt guilty for telling Naveen basically no one liked him. "Look…sorry about that man, but you can't go through life just loving yourself."

Naveen thought about it for a minute, then a smile appeared on his face. "I love Jazz! Does that count?"

"NO!" Sora growled. "Ah, forget you!" With that, he drew his keyblade and hurried to catch up with Tiana.

"What?" Naveen asked as he followed the two frogs.

Louis tried to follow them, but instantly got a pricker stuck in his finger. "AGGGGGGHHHH!" he bellowed. "Pricker bush has got me! Gator down! GATOR DOWN! I'm so cold!"

Ray gave an exasperated sigh. "Aw, hold still you big baby! Donald, Goofy, can ya'll give 'ol Ray a hand 'ere?"

Donald and Goofy exchanged a glance. "Sure….we can try to calm him down," Goofy said. "We'll catch up with the others later."

Donald sighed. "All right Louis, Ray's just gonn-"

"AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

"He hasn't touched it yet, you big palooka!"

Little did they know, three men were spying on their friends. One man was short with floppy ears, and appeared to be the father to the other two. The second was gargantuan and had a stupid look across his face. The third was of medium height and only had two fingers on his right hand!

The smallest man, who's name was Reggie, snickered. "Ooh! Take a look at those three jumpers!" he said, staring at the three frogs. "I can smell that frog stew all ready!"

"BET THEY TASTE REAL GOOD WITH THE SAUCE, HUH PA?" the large one bellowed.

"Gr, Darnell be _quiet!" _Reggie hissed and banged his son on the head with a club.

"….Ow." Darnell muttered.

Two Fingers made a few hand gestures and grumbling noises. It was apparent the man couldn't talk well.

Despite this, his father seemed to understand what he was saying. "Oooh, my thoughts exactly Two Fingers! It's time to catch us some frogs!" With that, the two men sank into the bushes….and after a second dragged Darnell down with them.

* * *

Sora took a deep breath after cutting away yet another branch. It was funny, every time he cut away a branch, his hatred for Naveen grew just a little more. "Selfish, lazy…"

"You know waitress, I have _finally _figured out what is wrong with you," Naveen interrupted the boy's thoughts.

"Oh, he has _got _to be kidding me!" Sora muttered to Tiana.

Naveen didn't seem to hear. "You don't know how to have fun! There. Someone had to say it."

Sora was about to give him a lecture, when Tiana said, "Thank you, 'cause I figured out what _your _problem is too!"

Naveen examined his non-existent nails. "I am…too wonderful?"

Sora couldn't take it anymore. He took his keyblade and clunked the prince on the head. "No! It's just like Tiana said: You're nothing but a lazy bump-on-a-log!"

"Not to mention self-centered!" Tiana added. Nodding to one another, Sora and Tiana made their way foreword.

Naveen smirked. "Little runt," he coughed in his hand.

Sora, knowing that was aimed at him, glared at the prince. "What was that?"

Naveen shrugged. "Nothing." However, as soon as Sora went back to helping Tiana, he coughed, "Stick-in-the-mud."

Tiana frowned and marched up to him. "Listen here you, this 'stick-in-the-mud' has had to work two jobs her entire life to get half as much, while you've been sucking on a silver spoon, chasing chamber maids, throughout you-your ivory tower!" that being said, she hopped off.

Sora turned to Naveen. "And I may be young, but I've done things most adults would never have the courage to do! You wouldn't believe the things I've done! The things I've seen! The things I've had to endure!"

Naveen gave him a blank stare. "….Actually, it's polished marble."

"GAAAAAAHH!" Sora cried in frustration. He turned around and tried to ignore the prince, when he heard the frog in mention cry out.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Tiana and Sora turned around to find Naveen trapped in a net with a human pulling him away. "Oooh boy! I got me a big one fellas!" they heard.

"Naveen!" Sora cried out, forgetting his disdain for the prince.

"C'mon Sora!" Tiana cried. "We have to-" but she didn't get a chance to finish, as Two Fingers grabbed her roughly.

"Hey, let her go!" Sora demanded as he jumped up and smacked Two Fingers with his keyblade, forcing him to release Tiana.

"Thanks!" Tiana breathed. "What do we do now?"

Sora uneasily gazed up at Two Fingers, who was clutching a knife. "We run!"

* * *

"Almost…..got it…..there!" Goofy announced. At long last, they had finally gotten the pricker out of the gator.

Louis sighed a sigh of relief…until he saw a man in a boat WITH A GUN! "THEY'VE GOT GUNS!" with that, the panic-stricken gator jumped _head first _in the pricker bush.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

The three friends exchanged a tired look. "Sweet guy…no' dat smart tho'," Ray muttered.

Donald rolled his eyes and cast a glance at Goofy. "Yeah, I know what that's like."

Goofy turned his head to find out what spooked Louis. "Oh no!" he cried.

Ray and Donald followed Goofy's gaze. "Naveen!" Donald gasped, as he saw the prince trapped in a net, being held captive by a man with huge ears.

"Hang on, Cap! We comin' for ya!" Ray shouted, as he aimed for the frog hunter. "A bug got to do, what a bug got to do!" The brave little insect slammed inside the ugly man's nose, causing a ruckus.

"What the-? Get outta here you little-" Reggie scowled.

Donald quickly swam over to the boat he was in. "FIRE!" he shouted, aiming for the man's gut.

"Dow!" Reggie, screeched, dropping the prince into the filthy water. Growling, he pressed one end of his nostril, and blew Ray out of his nose.

"Ray!" Donald called, quickly swimming towards him.

"Are you O.K, pal?" Goofy asked, concerned.

"I think I don chipped my favorite toof," he moaned.

* * *

"Run Tiana, run!" Sora cried, as they sped away from Reginald and Two Fingers.

"I can't run! I'm a frog!" Tiana cried back.

"Then hop! Hop away from the crazy hunters!"

Two Fingers grumbled as he threw multiple knives at them. Sora's eyes widened as he saw this. "Tiana, stay behind me!" He quickly moved in front of her and deflected the knives.

"Wow, that key-thing sure comes in handy, huh?" Tiana mused.

"You've no idea!" Sora told her.

They both gasped in unison as Darnell came thundering after them, club raised above his head. "Here I come, little froggies!"

Tiana frowned and swung her tongue at him, batting him in the eyes, which temporarily blinded him. "Ew…not a good way to fight!" Tiana sputtered.

"Nah, you did great! My turn!" Aiming his keyblade, Sora shouted, "FIRE!" burning Darnell in the arm.

Tiana gasped. "Sora…how did…do _you _practice voodoo too?"

Sora shook his head. "No! It's no-" before he could finish his sentence, the two heroes were scooped into a metal cage. "What? No!"

"We got 'em!" Darnell called, and grabbed the cage.

"Let us go!" Sora growled, as he grabbed the wires on the cage. "I demand freedom! You hear me, warden? This is an outrage! I'm gonna call my lawyer! You haven't even read us our rights!"

Darnell had a dim look on his face as he looked at his brother. "Did you hear somethin'?"

Tiana placed a green hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sora….shut up, O.K?"

Sora turned to her. "You want to get turned into frog soup?"

Tiana bit her lip. "Can't you try your key-thing?"

The boy nodded and grabbed his sword….or at least tried to. He soon realized there was no room in the cage to lift his blade. "Uh…Tiana? Small problem…"

Tiana placed a hand to her forehead. "Well, what are we going to-" she didn't get a chance to finish, as they were roughly slammed into the boat.

"Oh no! Sora, we have to get out of here!" Tiana cried, as she began to frantically pull on the side of the cage. Both of the frogs winced as a fist banged on the cage.

"Get on quiet there…" Two fingers grumbled, as he sat on the top of the cage.

"Hey Pa, where's yours?" Darnell whined.

"Shut your trap, Darnell!" Reggie growled.

Tiana angrily pounded on the side of the cage. "How are we going to get out of here, Sora? We're trapped in a cage that's too small for you to use your key-thingy, and the only way out is covered by that two fingered guy's butt!"

Sora gazed above him to see Tiana was right. "Yeah…not the way I want to spend the last minutes of my life."

Tiana a raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Trapped in a cage?"

"No, staring at a man's butt," Sora corrected.

Tiana placed a hand on her forehead. "There is no way I'm going down like this."

Sora placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lucky for you Tiana, I've been in worse situations before!"

Tiana looked over at him. "Like what?"

"Well, I had to cut my heart out to save Kairi, causing me to turn into a heartless," Sora answered. Tiana's mouth dropped open. The boy shrugged. "I turned back!"

The she-frog shook her head. "Yeah, that's pretty bad, but-"

**THUD!**

The frogs lurched forward in their cage as something thumped the back of the boat. "What the-?" Sora groaned.

"Pa…did you hear that suspicious thud?" Darnell asked his dad.

Sora and Tiana moved to the front of the cage, curious to know what the disturbance was, and hoping whatever it was would help them.

Reggie examined his surroundings. "Yeah…I sure did," he said, as he removed his hat to scratch his head

Tiana and Sora's mouths dropped open at what they saw on their captor's head.

It was Naveen.

"Naveen?" Sora whispered, in disbelief.

"What's he doing there?" Tiana asked.

"How _did _he get there?" Sora asked back. He made a few hand gestures to get the prince's attention. Naveen looked down at Sora and placed a finger to his lips, signifying he wanted them to be quiet.

Darnell gazed a stunned look at his father and slowly, slowly raised his club.

Reggie frowned. "Whatchoo two gawkin''-" before the poor man could even finish this sentence, his dim-witted son began bashing him on the head with the club.

"Aw, I'm just missin' 'em!" Darnell yelled, as he continued to try to squish Naveen. However, every time the idiot lowered his giant stick, the prince would cockily jump out of harm's way. It wasn't long before he began posing in mid-air.

Tiana covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Hey, looks like the prince knows a few fighting tactics of his own!" Sora smiled, as his view of the prince slowly began to change.

Finally, Two Fingers had enough of his brother beating their pa up like an idiot, so he stood up roughly, and pulled out his gun. Sora took the opportunity to open the top of the cage for himself.

"Good, now go!" Naveen called down to them, as he continued to jump from Darnell's attacks.

"We can't just leave you!" Sora called up to him, concerned for his friend's well-being.

Naveen suddenly lost his footing and grabbed onto Reggie's face. Two Fingers chuckled a cruel chuckle and aimed his gun at the frog's back.

"Naveen!" Sora gasped in horror.

Tiana got a determined look on her face, and jumped on Two Finger's gun, causing him to barely miss shooting his father in the groin. "Daaaaahhh! You idiots!" Reggie groaned.

Tiana and Naveen smiled as they landed beside Sora. "What is our plan?" the prince asked.

Sora smiled. "We fight!" he shouted, while raising his keyblade.

"Uh…Naveen and I aren't exactly experienced when it comes to fighting," Tiana warned.

"I must agree, we are frogs. What can we do?" Naveen moped.

Sora smiled. "You two are very clever frogs. You'll figure it out…speaking of which LOOK OUT!" Sora cried as Darnell's club came crushing down, missing them by only an inch. "Let's go!"

Unfortunately, right after those words left the boy's mouth, Darnell bashed Sora right on the head. "Aggh! It's O.K guys, I'm fine!" But it was apparent that Darnell was a little too fast for the boy, for he began to smack the keyblade master repeatedly, not giving him a second to attack.

Naveen was about to rush over and help his young friend, but was knocked to the side by Two Fingers before he could do so.

"Take that you little…" Two Fingers grumbled.

Naveen lifted his head and gasped when he saw a small green flower come from Sora. The prince didn't know what it was, but it seemed to illuminate green power. Although he was sore from being bashed by a gun, for some reason, all he could think about was his _friend's _well-being.

Naveen grabbed the flower and threw it at his young friend. "Sora!" he called.

Sora could feel his pain lift away as a green light shone on him. Feeling his energy return, Sora jumped out of Darnell's way and sliced him across the leg. "Thanks!" Sora called.

While this was going on Tiana was trying to find an open attack on Reggie. "All right you," she murmured, "I'm not afraid to-"

**SLAM!**

Reggie kicked Tiana right into the side of the boat, stunning the poor girl. The ugly man raised his foot, getting ready to squish the she-frog, when-

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Reggie howled, as he frantically tried to yank Naveen's teeth off his ankle. "Get off me you little varmit!"

Two Fingers grumbled and got ready to smack Naveen off with his gun….but before he even got the chance to reach for his gun, he was struck by a heavy bolt of lightning.

Sora smiled and aimed his keyblade once again. "ICE!" he cried, as he froze the man's leg. With Two Fingers temporarily stunned, Sora drew his keyblade and struck Reggie in multiple combos.

Seeing Darnell approach with his club, Tiana took the opportunity to trip him with her long tongue, causing him to fall on his face….which also caused everyone in the boat to lurch.

At that moment, Reggie managed to break out of his ice imprisonment, and slapped Sora over to the side, with a satisfied grin on his face. His satisfaction only grew once Naveen rushed over help, only to be thrown into Tiana.

Sora was quickly back on his feet and was quick to get revenge on the ugly father. "SONIC BALDE!" Sora shouted as he threw his sword at Reggie. He was pretty satisfied with himself, until Darnell appeared from behind him and bashed him on the head.

By now, Sora had had it with the over-sized man. He focused all his fire energy in his blade and shouted, "FIRAGA!" After that, Darnell became toasted all over.

"…Ow," the giant muttered.

Sora was about to attack again, but was shot in the back by Two Fingers. "Heehee.." he smirked. The key blade master growled, leaped, and attacked the man square in the eyes.

Darnell recovered from his attack and raised his stake, ready to bash the frog. Remembering Naveen's tactics, Sora moved out of the way, causing Darnell to attack his own brother. Before the big lug could react on this, Sora knocked the giant over with a heavy keyblade attack, knocking out the largest frog hunter.

Two Finger's eyes widened at the sight of his brother, but was soon inflicted by Sora's gravity spell. "Didn't see that one coming, did you?" the boy gloated.

Two Fingers was about to get back up, when he was kicked sharply in the face by Tiana, knocking him out completely.

Sora sent a proud smile to the girl, until a worn-out Naveen caught his attention. "I'll…I'll be up in a minute…," he panted.

Sora winced as he saw Reggie raise his foot, ready to crush Naveen with the death blow….or at least the knock out blow. The boy pointed his keyblade at his brave friend. "NAVEEN!" he cried, as he cast a curing spell on the frog.

A green light illuminated on the prince, redeeming his strength. "Thank you, my friend!" Naveen called. With his energy restored, Naveen moved out of the way of Reggie's foot, jumped in the air, and kicked him in the face, knocking him out.

The three friends hopped in front of the defeated men, all three feeling very victorious.

"These frogs…." Reggie gasped. "Aren't like none I've ever seen….they smart."

"And we talk too," Tiana added.

The three men's eyes widened.

"AGGGGGHHHH!" they cried, as they sped off with their boat, leaving the three heroes in the water.

"What? I shot like, four different spells at them through my keyblade, and they get freaked out by the fact we can _talk?_" Sora cried. "Dumbest enemies I've ever faced….and that includes Pete!"

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**I'm sorry if the battle scene was stupid, but I'm really not good at those, it's a weakness! Please tell me what you think!**


	5. Meet Evangeline

**Waaaaaaaah! Most of my loyal readers LEFT ME! I'm sorry! Come back! I was bad, I know! I've learned my lesson!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I still own nothin'.**

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"Ray? Raaaaaaaay? Are you alright?"

"Course he's not , you bigpalooka! He's knocked out, and I don't think Louis's CPR tactic is working!"

"I'm doing the best I can, Donald…."

"Here, I got it… CURE!"

A green light bathed over the weak firefly, giving him new strength. Ray coughed up a fit, but managed to sit up on his huge butt.

"Wow, that actually worked!" Louis speculated. "You O.K there, peewee?"

"*cough* Fine *cough*, It's just your breath do' killed me to death, tho, Ray said, as he resumed his coughing.

"We tried to stop 'em," Goofy smiled, giving the firefly a nudge to help him in the air.

Ray sent him a grateful look. "Aw, thanks there long ears."

Louis cleared his throat. "Um, do you guys mind?" he asked sheepishly, as he pointed to the pricker stuck in his stomach.

"No problem!" Goofy smiled.

Ray nodded and pulled the sharp thorn out of his friend's stomach. "There you go, big guy."

"Ah, thanks peewee, now….how about….the other side?" he grumbled, as he turned around to reveal a butt covered in prickers.

Ray sighed in exhaustion, while Donald gave a little "Oie."

"Hmmmm?" Goofy muttered as he looked over his shoulder. "Hey, there's Sora!"

Donald followed his gaze to find the three frogs talking and …._laughing? _"Hey, did we miss something?"

"'And we talk too!' I like that!" Naveen laughed. He pointed an accusing finger at Tiana. "You are secretly funny!"

Sora gave a sly smile.. "Really? You don't think she's a stick-in-the-mud?"

Naveen rolled his eyes. "Well…"

"Say it. Say it. Say it," Tiana pestered. Sora laughed, enjoying this funny side to his friend.

"Well, you're not a complete stick…"

"We can't hear you!' Sora teased.

….that _deep _in the mud!" Naveen smiled.

"And what about me, Naveen?" Sora asked. "You still think I'm a little runt?"

"Pretty much," Naveen muttered, and smiled when he saw Sora's reaction. "Ha, I am just joking, my young friend. You were actually pretty brave back there!"

"Aggggghhhh!"

They all turned their heads as they heard a cry come from Louis. "Aw fellas, I know we were plannin' on getting to Mama Odie as soon as possible, but we need to help 'ol Louis with this prickly problem!" Goofy told them.

Tiana patted Louis on the head. "Aw, poor Louis."

Donald turned to look at his spiky-haired friend. "Where did you and Tiana go?"

Sora shrugged. "We were attacked by some frog hunters, but Naveen saved us!"

Goofy blinked. "Naveen? The frog prince?"

"Yeah, looks like he really pulled through for us!" Sora smiled.

They winced as they heard Louis cry out in pain. "You know what would make me feel better- MERCY!- crawfish smothered in atutefa- HOLY!- with banana foster sprinkles in pralines -OH MAMA!"

Sora was quiet. "Well….I think I have some fries…stashed…somewhere…"

"How about some swamp gumbo?" Tiana asked.

"That'll do!" Louis smiled, and then, "Aaaaaaghh!"

Sora turned his head to see Naveen making himself comfortable. "Sounds delicious, I'll start with a pre-dinner cocktail and something to nibble on while I wait. Thanks," Naveen listed.

Sora raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Uh…no. I don't think so."

Naveen opened one eye. "Huh?"

Tiana tied a leaf apron around her waist. "Your highness? _You _are going to mince these mushrooms!" she said, as she gave him a sharp pebble.

"D-Do what?" Naveen stuttered.

Sora gave him a sly smile. "You heard her! Mince the mushrooms!" He quickly followed Tiana in pursuit. "Hop to it!" he called, then broke out in snickers. "Haha…frog…hopping….I 'v got to start writing this down.."

Tiana quickly grabbed some peppers and headed for a pumpkin. "Are you mincing?" she called to Naveen.

"All right! Relax!" Naveen called.

Tiana set down the peppers and examined the pumpkin she would cook in. "Hm…if I can just find some more pebbles, I can start-"

"FIRE!" Sora cried, pointing his keyblade at the bottom of the pumpkin, lighting up a nice fire. He twirled his sword and gave her a smug grin.

"Show off," she muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Sora looked over his shoulder. "Looks like our royal friend needs some help!" he pointed over towards Naveen who had finally cut _one _slice of the mushroom.

Tiana shook her head, but in a playful way. "Step aside mister." She grabbed the sharp rock and gave it a little twirl. "Watch…and learn." With that, the she-frog minced the entire mushroom in three seconds flat.

Sora's eyes widened. "Wha-? Now who's the show-off?"

Tiana shrugged. "It's cute when I do it!" she joked.

Naveen tried again to slice the mushroom in even slices, but to no avail. Tiana smiled and wrapped her arms around his, to guide him in the direction he needed to go.

Sora couldn't help but smirk a bit. _You know…in that pose, it almost looks like they're…you know…_

As if he was reading the boy's mind, Naveen gave a nervous chuckle. "You know…I've never done anything like this before."

"No!" Sora breathed in an amused tone.

"Really?" Tiana added, as she picked up the pieces of the minced mushroom.

Naveen rolled his eyes. "All right, but when you live in a palace, everything is done _for _you. They feed you, dress you, drive you, brush your teeth…"

Sora gave a little shudder. "Geez Naveen, ever heard of personal space?" His eyes widened. "Oh jeez, _please _tell me you bathed yourself, otherwise I'm going to have to be reduced to calling you sissy boy."

"Relax child," Naveen muttered. "I know you think I'm a lazy bum, and I'll admit it was a very charmed life style…until the day my parents cut me off. Then I realized," the prince suddenly looked depressed, "I don't know how to do _anything_."

Sora bit his lip and exchanged a look with Tiana. "You know, he's lazy, but only because he never _had _to do anything, and under all that ego, he's a really nice guy," the boy whispered. In some ways, Naveen was similar to Donald. Donald was greedy and hot-tempered, but that didn't necessarily make him a bad guy.

Tiana knew there was truth to his words. She walked over to the forlorn-looking frog and examined the bits of mushroom he did mince. "Well hey….you got the makings of a decent mushroom mincer," she smiled as she playfully threw a piece at his head.

Naveen instantly brightened up. "Oh, you think so?"

Tiana nodded. "Keep it up, and I just might hire you."

"Really?"

"No."

Naveen laughed. "Aw, now what was that? That was below the froggy belt!"

It was only a matter of time before everyone was sitting by a fire (provided by Sora) and eating Tiana's delicious gumbo.

"Wow, I haven't had food this good in ages!' Sora said, as he slurped down more gumbo.

"How long have ya'll been travelin', Sora?" Louis asked.

Sora took a deep breath. "Woah…I'd say…a year and a half…two years tops?"

"Ashidanza…" Naveen muttered.

"Aren't your parents worried?" Tiana asked, concern soaking her voice.

Sora bowed his head. "I…I don't know. I haven't been back home since I started this quest."

Ray bowed his head. "Well…it all gonna be worth it once ya find your girl."

Tiana giggled. "Absolutely! Now anybody up for seconds?"

Naveen stood up and wiped his mouth. "That was amazing! You truly have a gift," he said warmly, as he handed his bowl to Tiana.

Tiana gave a shy smile. "Oh um…thank you," she said, as she poured him more. As she handed him the bowl, they exchanged a warm smile.

Sora's eyes flicked back and forth between the two, then gazed over at Donald and Goofy. All three were thinking the same thing. _What was going on between those two?_

They snapped out of their gazes once they heard Ray gasp. Sora instinctively pulled out his keyblade, but his friend was looking up at the sky.

"Der she is! The most beautiful firefly in all creation!" Ray said, dreamily.

The three frogs hopped on a lily pad. "Evangeline?" Tiana asked, sounding excited.

Louis quickly finished the rest of his gumbo, for it was very rude to eat in front of a guest. "I wanna meet this girl! Where she at?"

Ray gave a small chuckle. "How you can miss her? She glowin' right up there in front of you," he said, as he pointed…to the Northern Star?

Sora was stunned. "Is that Hallow Bastion? I think it just might be.," he whispered to Goofy. Before his friend could answer, Ray began to sing:

_Look how she light up the sky_

_Ma Belle Evangeline_

Sora frowned. "Is he actually singing?" the boy wanted to know.

Donald shook his head. "Aw, that's not a fi- ow!" he winced as Naveen threw an acorn at his head.

"Sssh!" The prince warned.

_So far above me yet I_

_Know her heart belongs to only me_

Sora watched as the firefly drew his and his love's initials on a tree and circled it with a heart. Apparently, that light was useful in more ways than one.

While Ray was singing about his love, Sora couldn't help but think about Kairi. Every word his friend sang matched perfectly with how he felt about the girl. They were so far apart, but Sora knew she was always thinking about him, as he was her. So…did that make Kairi _his _Evangeline?

_Jet' adore_

"I adore you," Naveen said simply to Tiana.

Sora's eyes widened. "Whaaaaaaat?" he shouted as loud as he could without interrupting Ray. Tiana, Donald, and Goofy also looked shocked.

_Jet' ami_

"I love you," he told Tiana. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pointed up at Ray. "I was just translating!"

Sora released the breath he had been holding. "Oh…you had me there…"

_You're the queen of the night_

_So still, so bright_

_Someone as beautiful as she_

_Could love someone like me_

Sora noticed Naveen grabbing Tiana's hand and bringing her in a dance pose, so he hopped over to another lily to give them some room.

"No! I-I don't dance!" Tiana stammered. When Naveen once again tried to pull her into a dance, she quickly hopped to another lily. "I've never danced," she whispered, almost sadly.

Sora and Naveen exchanged a look. "Aw…" the boy said, simply.

Naveen just gave an amused smile, and pulled Tiana's lily next to him. "If I can mince, you can dance!"

Sora suddenly heard music play in an enchanting tone, as the prince twirled the she-frog around in an elegant fashion. The boy looked up at Louis who was playing his trumpet, all while giving Sora the 'You know what's going on' look.

Sora was quiet for a minute and watched as they seemed to be having the time of their lives, just dancing together. Then it struck the keyblade master. "Just translating, indeed!" he whispered.

He looked up to see Ray holding a red and green leaf, and holding them over his light to shine some color on the scene. Sora went by Ray's example, aimed his kkeyblade in the air, shot off his cure spell, and watched as pretty green flowers fell around them. "Beautiful," he whispered.

_Love is beautiful_

_Love is wonderful_

_Love is everything_

_Do you agree?_

_Mei oui!_

Sora watched as the two frogs jumped in the water, and then sprung out, spirits high. He smiled when he saw them slide gently on a lily pad, and Naveen gently dipped her.

_Look how she lights up the sky_

_I love you_

_Evangeline_

Sora gasped as he saw his two friends lean into each other, lips puckered.

Donald's eyes widened. "Are they gonna-?"

"They're gonna!" Sora assured.

"Are you sure they're gonna-?" Goofy whispered.

"They're gonna!"

Donald shook his head. "Well, why they gonna-"

"They're gonna! Now sssshhh!"

But to the boy's disappointment, Tiana got cold feet at the last minute. She pulled away from the prince and gave a small chuckle. "Uh…Lottie's gettin'' herself one heck of a dance partner…we…we best be pushing on." With that, she hopped away, leaving the prince with a hopeless look on his face.

"Awww…" Sora and his friends moaned.

"They were so close," Goofy moped.

Sora bowed his head in pity, but it instantly snapped up once his keyblade appeared in his hand.

"Hm? Sora, why did you draw your keyblade?" Goofy wanted to know.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. It only appears on its' own when heartless are near!"

Donald's eyes widened. "But there's no-"

"Aggghhhh!"

The three friends turned their heads to find four heartless that appeared to be on fire, dragging Naveen away. "TIANA!" he cried out.

"NAVEEN!" Tiana returned the cry.

Sora's mouth dropped open. "Hold on Naveen! We're coming for you!" The words had barely left his mouth, when the team started running after their captive friend. They didn't even think about riding Louis.

"Don't worry Naveen!" Goofy called. "We won't let them swallow your heart!"

"SWALLOW HIS HEART?" Tiana cried in a panic.

"That's what heartless do," Donald told her.

"That's enough!" Sora frowned. "SONIC BLADE!" He sharply threw his keyblade at a heartless, causing it to release the prince…only to be dragged off by another one.

"Dang it!" the boy scowled.

Sora was about to cast a spell to help his friend, when all of a sudden, the heartless dispersed on a flash of golden light..

Everyone halted but the keyblade master, who hurried in the water to make sure the prince was all right. "You O.K there, Naveen?"

Naveen didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the figure that was approaching them. Sora silently cursed himself for being in the water, making it impossible for him to draw his keyblade.

From the mist of the bog appeared…not a heartless, but a small, old woman. She began to chuckle. "Not bad for a 197-year-old blind lady!" She smugly blew out her torch. "Now…which one of you naughty children, been messin' with the Shadow Man?"

Sora smiled a sheepish smile. "Well ma'am….we're a team here. We all take the blame when one of us makes a mistake, and we never point fingers." He turned his head to the rest of the team. "Isn't that right? Donald? Goofy?"

His two closest friends exchanged a look then shouted in unison, "It was Naveen!"

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**There, they finally met Mama Odie! Now please, please come back and review my story! I love you all! And I thank you all who have already reviewed!**


	6. Meet Lottie

**I have no good excuse for taking so long to update. When I checked the last time I updated, I didn't want to believe it. I'm very sorry, and here's the next chapter!**

**P.S- Can you tell I'm using a weird pattern for the names of my chapters?**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely own nothing**

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"We're so glad we found you Mama Odie!" Tiana told the bayou queen, once the team had entered her strange boat house. "Ray and Louis here have been tellin' us all about you. We've been travelin' quite a long way, and you can't imagine what we've been through. And we…"

"Tiana!" Sora whispered harshly to her. "I think I just saw a pair of eyeballs in one of those jars! No lie!" he cringed, as he pointed towards the shelves of hoodoo.

Tiana just shook her head and continued to follow the ancient woman. "And we-"

"JUJU!" Mama Odie called. Almost instantly, a long snake dropped from the ceiling, smiling brightly. Despite being blind, Mama Odie seemed to detect the reptile instantly. "Haha, come over here you bad boy!" she cooed, as Juju rubbed his head against her cheek like a cat.

Sora gave a small smile. "Aw, that's sweet."

His smile instantly vanished once the old woman cupped the snake's face. "Give us a lil' sugar now!" she said, as she started kissing her snake…tongue and all.

"Now that's just wrong," Sora stated, as Louis make a gagging sound.

Mama Odie patted Juju's head. "You just loves your mama now, don't ya?" Then sharply, she stretched the reptile's neck, until he looked like a walking stick….which was exactly the blind woman needed him for.

"Good to see you again Ray!" Mama Odie called over shoulder. "How's your grandmama?"

Ray waved a small hand. "Aw, she's fine. Got in a lil' trouble for flashing the neighbors again!"

Donald, who had been admiring some of Mama Odie's magical items, snapped his head back to face Ray. "Wait…rewind this conversation by two seconds…"

Mama Odie gave a heart felt chuckle. "Hoo! I like that gal's spunk!"

Nudging Sora and Naveen forward a bit, Tiana tried again to address the much older woman. "Mama Odie…we don't want to take up much of you time, so.."

"Ya'll want some candy?' Mama Odie once again interrupted, showing them some old, moldy candy.

"Um…n-no thank you," Tiana stated, politely.

"Not really," Naveen muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Don't suppose you have a Snickers bar on you, do ya?" Sora half-joked.

Mama Odie shrugged. "Well, that's too bad. It's a special candy. It woulda turned ya'll human!" With that, she swallowed the item in one gulp.

"NOOOOOO!" The three friends cried in horror.

They were startled by the old woman's sudden eruption of laughter. "I'm just messin' with ya'll!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Tiana smirked. "How on Earth did you know we wanted to…." Her words faltered as she realized Mama Odie had fallen asleep.

Donald shook his head. "She fell sleep? We already have one member of this team who falls asleep on duty!"

Goofy frowned. "One time. It was Monday. The weather was fantastic. I stayed up late the night before. It was for five minutes. Let it go!"

Grumbling, Sora hopped next to Mama Odie's ear. "Sora…don't-" Tiana began.

"We've got a job to do!" Sora told her. Taking a deep breath, Sora cried, "M-"

"JUJU!' Mama Odie suddenly woke up, startling poor Sora and knocking him off her seat. "Why didn't you tell me my gumbo was burnin'?"

Louis looked at Ray, uneasily. "You sure this is the right blind voodoo lady who lives in the boat in the tree in the bayou?"

"Pretty sure!" Ray exclaimed.

They turned their gazes back towards the voodoo lady, who was busy stirring her gumbo…in a bath tub? "Gotta do everything around here…"

Sora shook his head. "Man…we're not getting _anywhere _with this lady…and why do I get the feeling we're all going to burst into a song soon?"

Tiana shook her head. "I don't know, but we need to ask her to turn us into humans, and see if she knows where your friends are!"

Surprisingly, Sora hadn't thought of that until this moment. Apparently, this woman was very powerful…maybe _she _knew where his friends were?

"Mama Odie," Tiana interrupted his thoughts. "If you could just-"

"Taste this!" Mama Odie _once again _interrupted, and shoved some the gumbo she had been stirring into the girl's mouth. "Well?"

Tiana carefully concentrated on the flavor. "Hit it hard with a couple of shots of Tabasco, and it's the bees knees!"

Sighing, Sora said, "Can we just-?"

"JUJU!" Mama Odie called, and waited patiently as her snake poured some of the Tabasco in her gumbo. The bayou queen reached into her 'pot' and brought the stew to her lips. "Yeeehee! That's got some zang to it!" she laughed, clicking her heels together in joy.

By now, Sora was just about to start banging his head against the side of the bath tub. He was usually a very patient boy, but they were getting nowhere, and the only thing they had seemed to have accomplished was helping an old woman with her cooking! "I guess that's just what it needed?" Sora stated, hoping if he just played along they would finally get somewhere.

Mama Odie nodded. "Now…have ya'll figured out _you _need?"

Tiana scratched the back of her head. "Well for starters, Naveen and I need to become human-"

"HA!" Mama Odie scoffed. Tiana was so startled, she nearly fell into the gumbo, but managed not to get burned thanks to Sora and Naveen grabbing her.

"You ain't got the sense you was born with! Ya'll want to be human…but you're blind to what you _need_," Mama Odie told them.

Naveen exchanged a look with Sora. "What we 'want', what we 'need', it is all the same thing, yes?" He earned a smack upside his head from Mama Odie's wooden spoon.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I saw that coming the moment we walked in here."

"Is it the same thing? No!" Mama Odie cried. "Ya listen to ya mama now!" And just like Sora predicted, she began to sing:

_Don't matter what you look like_

_Don't matter what you wear_

_How many rings you got on your fingers_

_We don't care!_

_No, we don't care! _Some spoonbills sang from the rafters.

Sora pointed to them. "Donald, you lied! There _are _birds in the bayou!"

_Don't matter where you come from_

_Don't even matter what you are_

_A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat_

_Had 'em all in here! (We had 'em all in there!)_

_And they all knew what they wanted_

_What they wanted me to do_

_I told them what they needed_

_Just like I be telling' you_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper!_

_Find out who you are_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_It really ain't that far!_

_When you find out who you are_

_You'll find out what you need_

_Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed_

_Ya gotta dig! (Dig!)_

_Ya gotta dig! (Dig!)_

Sora smiled as he felt his flipper tap to the beat. He had to admit, the song really raised his spirits, and he could tell his friends felt the same way. He watched with interest as Mama Odie made her way towards Naveen.

_Prince Froggy is a rich lil' boy_

_You wanna be rich again?_

Sora watched as Naveen nodded his head in excitement, but Mama Odie frowned.

_That ain't gonna make you happy now_

_Did it make you happy then?_

Naveen was about to answer, but the Mama Odie quickly interrupted, shouting, "NO!" She soon began pelting him with gold coins.

_Munny ain't got no soul_

_Munny ain't got no heart_

_All you need is some self -control_

_Make yourself a brand new start_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_Don't have to go that far_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_Tell the people Mama told ya so!_

Sora noticed that Naveen was no longer paying attention to the munny…but to Tiana, who was dancing with Goofy and Donald.

_Can't tell you what you'll find_

_Maybe love will grant you a piece of mind_

_Dig a lil' deeper and you'll know!_

Naveen's face suddenly lit up with a smile that could only be described as blissful. This caused the keyblade master to smile._ It's not money Naveen needs….it's love. More specifically, Tiana, _Sora realized.

He gave a little jump as Mama Odie appeared behind him.

_Now let's look at this lil' guy_

_Travelin' to win his prize_

_But once you find your lovely pearl_

_Are you gonna let her pass you by?_

_She's talking about Kairi, _Sora thought to himself. His eyes followed Mama Odie as she tapped the glass of a tall mirror. The young boy gave a little gasp as he an image of his red-head beauty appear, or rather glow, in the glass object.

_Look at your special girl_

_Look at that smile_

_You two were meant for each other_

_Even though it might take awhile_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_Ya'll too different to be thang?_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_Well, if that don' be the truth_

_Why does she make you wanna sing?_

_Dig a lil' deeper and you'll see!_

Sora bit his lip as he felt his heart ache for the girl in the mirror. Mama Odie had a point….he'd worked too hard to give her up now. It still bugged him though…were they really meant for each other? He _still _thought they were really different…but should he care so much? His thoughts were interrupted by Mama Odie's voice:

"Miss. Froggy?"

Tiana looked up at the old woman. "Yes ma'am?"

"Might I a word?"

"Yes ma'am."

Mama Odie picked up the she-frog and took her over to the gumbo. "You's a hard one, that's what I heard." Sora hopped over next to Tiana and watched as Mama Odie tapped her gumbo lightly. A golden aura spread a bit, and then a picture of a kind-looking man hugging his family appeared.

_Your daddy was a loving man_

_Family through and through_

_Yo your daddy's daughter_

_What he had in him, you got in you_

_Ya gotta dig a lil' deeper_

_For you it's gonna be tough_

_Ya gotta did a lil' deeper_

_You ain't dig near hard enough_

_Dig down deep inside yourself_

_You'll find out what you need_

_Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed_

Sora covered his eyes for a brief second, as Mama Odie moved some of her vines, revealing beautiful sunshine, and many colorful bottles.

_Open up the windows!_

_Let in some light children!_

_(Blue skies and sunshine)_

"_Blue skies and sunshine," _Sora sand along, gleefully.

"_Blue skies and sunshine!"_Tiana belted out from the top of Mama Odie's turban.

"_Guaranteed!"_ Mama Odie finished.

Sora gave a warm smile, understanding completely what the voodoo woman was trying to tell them…and he could tell by Naveen's expression he had too. So obviously Tiana…

"Well Miss. Froggy, do you understand what you need now, child?" Mama Odie asked Sora's question.

Tiana nodded fervently. "I do Mama Odie! I need to dig a lil' deeper…and work even harder to get my restaurant!"

_What? _Sora thought to himself. _No! It's not the restaurant you need! It's Naveen! The message was clear: You need to hook up with the frog prince if you want to be happy!_

Ray simply shrugged. "All right ya'll, one more time! _It don't matter what you look like, it don't-"_

He noticed Sora, Donald, and Goofy simply shook their heads, as if to say 'give it up, Ray'.

"Nobody gonna sing with Ray? …O.K."

Mama Odie shook her head. "Well, if ya'll set on bein' human…there's only one thing to do!"

They soon found themselves in front of the apparently magic gumbo. Suddenly, Sora was glad that had helped her a bit with the stew.

"Gumbo, gumbo, in the pot…we need a princess….whatch'a got?" Mama Odie chanted. Just like before, a golden aura spread throughout the gumbo until an image of a blond woman snoring up a storm appeared.

Sora examined her closely. "Nope. Wrong girl. Change the channel." There was no way this drooling, snoring girl was a princess.

As if reading his thoughts, Tiana gave a little gasp. "Lottie? But she's not a princess!"

"Lottie? How do you know 'er?" Goofy asked.

Tiana looked down at him from Mama Odie's shoulder. "She's my best friend….and Naveen's fiancee." Sora took notice her words faltered a bit at the end.

"Wait…So this is Charlotte LaBouff?" Sora asked, taking another look at the girl. "So, isn't she like-"

"Hush up and look at the gumbo!" Mama Odie snapped.

Looking down into the gumbo once more, they saw a large man in a costume, carrying a tiara on a pillow, enter her bedroom.

"That's right…" Tiana muttered. "Big Daddy is king of the Mardi Gras parade…so that makes Lottie…a princess."

"Does that count?" Naveen asked.

"I forgot to bring The Rules of Princesses book with me," Donald told him.

Mama Odie sent him a frown. It does count, but only 'till-"

"10:30?" Sora took a wild guess.

"Midnight. When Mardi Gras is over!" Mama Odie stated.

"Is there any particular reason that deadlines are always at midnight?" Donald wanted to know.

Sora shrugged. "Face it Donald. It's a dramatic time."

"Hop-along?" Mama Odie said, referring to Naveen. "You got until then to get that princess to kiss you. Once she does-boom-you're both turned human!"

"Faldi Faldonza!" Naveen exclaimed.

Donald tilted his head. "Wait…so Naveen had the right idea in the beginning?"

Sora shook his head. "They're cursed with evil, demon magic…and the only way to fix it is with a kiss. I'll never understand why we have science."

"Guys! We only have until midnight! We need to get going!" Tiana cried, grabbing her friend's hands, and hopping away with them.

Louis toyed with his fingers. He still wanted to ask Mama Odie to turn him human…but he wasn't the only one who didn't get to ask the old woman a favor. "Um…Mama Odie?" the alligator asked, nervously. "Y'know…Sora's been lookin' everywhere for his friends, battling all kinds of heartless…ya think you could tell 'em where to find-"

"Big Jaws, one destiny at a time!" Mama Odie snapped, clamping the alligator's mouth shut. She quickly began pushing him out the door. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…Ya got a river to run here darlin', so you's best get to swimming!"

Louis stopped at the doorway. "Wait! I've got a better idea!"

* * *

**I found this chapter all right, but not as good as my others. I think there was just too many characters in one scene to make it very funny, but they'll start getting separated in the next chapter. The update will take awhile, but hopefully not as long as before! Please remain patient with me!**


	7. Meet the Proposing Frog

**I went to go see ****Tangled**** the other day and I LOVED IT! It was fantastic….but a little too fantastic. I loved it, but what if people forget all about ****The Princess and the Frog?****I'm being silly, I know. I just hate that since the movie was released, people have been bashing on PATF! Sigh.**

**Disclaimer: I really don't own anything…but I just got a Kingdom Hearts comfy throw! Mmmm….soft!**

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* * *

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"I can't do it! I can't go on! I-It's too much! Just leave me behind! Don't let me stop you! SAVE YOURSELVES!"

"Donald, the _one_ time you get transformed into something without wings, you feel too weak to climb over a boat? I mean, lazy much?"

"In case you haven't noticed Sora, I'm a very tiny alligator! It's not easy climbing a boat the size of Niagra Falls!"

"…..It's really not that big."

"Said the frog with extremely long jumping legs!"

"Whiner."

"Long leg jumper… guy."

Apparently Louis's plan was to hitch a ride on a river boat, and let it carry them to New Orleans. Sora asked him how they were supposed to hide from the passengers. A turtle, three frogs, a firefly, and tiny alligator was no problem…. Louis was another story.

However, the gang said they couldn't think of a quicker way to home, so they decided to wing it on the boat. (Which was a shocker coming from Tiana)

After much struggle, the group of friends pulled themselves onto the boat. Sighing, Sora brushed back his spiky, brown hair and said, "O.K, here we are. Now where do we hide?"

"Can it please be somewhere with food?" Goofy begged.

Tiana opened her mouth to respond, but instead gasped when she saw dark shadows creeping around the corner. "Sora!" she cried.

"Heartless!" he cried out, revealing his keyblade.

"And they've got guns!" Louis cried in horror. In a panic, he tried to squeeze into a pipe, but he didn't fit. (Shocker) So, he squatted in a square shape, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Yeah, 'cause who wouldn't that fool?" Donald said, sarcastically.

"It's O.K Donald!" Sora smiled. "We'll fight these guy off, and then we'll-"

**Squish!**

Sora groaned as a giant foot met his head and squished him onto the boat's floor.

"Um…that wasn't supposed to happen…" Goofy muttered.

"Spikes? Ya O.K?" Ray whispered.

His head swimming, the spiky haired boy gave him a weak thumbs up.

Donald smiled and said, "Don't worry. It was just his head. Nothing important."

Sora lifted his head, getting ready to snap at the duck, but stopped as Goofy cried out, "Sora, look!"

The boy's blue eyes widened as he followed his friend's gaze. It was not Heartless that had trampled him, but three humans in weird animal costumes. Not only that, they were also not wielding guns, but instruments.

Gulping, the boy sent a nervous glance to his friends. "Riku never finds out about this!"

"Woah!"

The boy looked up to see the humans examining his large friend. "Er…Louis!" Sora cried, concerned that the one of the humans would call for someone who _did _have a gun.

"That's one killa dilla costume!" one of the men exclaimed.

"What?" the keyblade master whispered.

"Hey gator, can you play that horn?" another costumed man asked.

Louis gave a nervous smile, and shyly played his trumpet.

"Woah! Man, come sit with us!" the first guy cheered.

"Yeah, we're playin' Mardi Gras!" said the third.

Louis looked like he was going to die from happiness. He quickly sent Sora a pleading look, his face begging permission to go. The young boy gave a giant smile. "Go, my son," he joked.

Louis gave a huge cry of delight and followed the men to complete his dream.

Sora smiled again. "All right, they're gone Tiana. You can let go of Naveen now."

Tiana and Naveen exchanged a nervous glance, before releasing one another. The moment was short lived however, for soon Ray exclaimed, "We can't miss dis! Lil' Louis is finally gonna play wit da big boys!"

"Oh boy!" Donald cheered.

"I could sure go for a show!" Goofy added.

Sora turned to Tiana and said, "Let's go!"

The she-frog turned her head towards the prince. "Naveen? You comin'?"

The prince suddenly turned shy and nervous. "I-I…I will catch up in a minute!" he stammered.

Tiana gave a small smile before heading on.

Sora however was curious. The boy knew the frog prince well enough by now to know he loved jazz…A LOT. So, why didn't he want to see his friend perform?

_He looked pretty shaken up_, Sora thought to himself. _As if he was getting ready to jump into a pit of fire…_

Was his friend in trouble? Was he keeping a secret from the rest of the team? Biting his bottom lip, Sora grabbed Ray by his wings and pulled him aside. "Hey Ray…"

"Not now Spikes! I wanna see 'ol Louis-"

"Ray, I think there's something wrong with Naveen!" Sora whispered.

Ray's mouth dropped open. "Cap? What's wrong wit 'em, bra?"

The young boy shrugged. "I don't know exactly. It just looks like he's hiding something. Like he's scared…"

"Well, what should we do?"

"I say we follow him. See what he's up to."

"Ya mean stalk him?"

"I prefer to think of it as 'secretly watching'." Turning his head, the bot watched his royal friend grab something off the floor and hop away.

"C'mon, after him!" Sora whispered.

Slowly, the two friends followed the prince to….wherever it was he was going.

* * *

After much stalk- er, I mean _following _later, Ray and Sora found themselves on a roof watching as Naveen fiddled with something in his hands.

"What's he doing?" Sora wanted to know.

"Ssshh!" Ray hissed.

"Evangeline…." Naveen moaned. "Why can't I just look Tiana in the eyes and say, 'I will do whatever it takes to make _all _your dreams come true because….because I love you'?"

Sora's eyes widened as he saw the frog hold up a handmade ring. "What?"

"Woah woah woah Cap! YOU MAKIN' GOO-GOO EYES AT MY GIRL?" Ray shouted, his light glowing red.

"Um Ray, I don't think-"

But before Sora could say anything more, the little firefly had charged at the prince, trying to strangle the life out of his hand. "Ima make a pair of shoes outta you!"

"Woah Ray, calm down!" Sora called, hopping over to his two friends.

Naveen desperately tried to reason with the small fly. "No,no,no! Ray, I am not in love with Evangeline, I am in love with Tiana!"

Ray's mood instantly changed from red fury to yellow glee. "Ooooh! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You come here you!" he shouted, while hugging him and kissing his cheek.

"I can no longer marry Miss Charlotte LaBouff!" Naveen announced.

Sora had to blink a few times to get back into reality. "Um Naveen?"

"I will find another way to get Tiana her restaurant!"

"…Naveen?"

The prince's eyes lit up. "I will get a job….maybe two….maybe three!"

"PRINCE TALKS-A-LOT! CAN I GET YOUR ATTENTION FOR TWO SECONDS?"

Naveen stopped his day dreaming and raised a non-existent eyebrow. "What is wrong, Sora?"

The boy took a deep breath before saying, "Look Naveen…I'm happy that you finally found love, especially with Tiana. I really am, but….marriage? I mean, you two just met about two days ago."

Naveen was quiet for a minute, then gave a small nod. "Yes, I do see this from your point-of-view….but how long have you and your Kairi known each other?"

Sora tilted his head in thought. "About eleven years."

"And ya'll haven't asked for marriage yet?" Ray asked, shocked at his lack of commitment.

"Hey! I'm only fifteen, remember?" the boy defended himself.

"Luckily Cap and Cher are old enough to get hitched!" Ray shouted. "They gonna be so happy together!"

"But they barely know each other!" Sora protested.

"They gonna have the cutest lil' tadpoles!" Ray added, not hearing Sora.

"They haven't had time to sort out their differences!"

Naveen sighed. "Yes, yes, I know Tiana and I have just met, but…every time I think about going back to a life without her…I just want to lay down and die. I will do anything for her. I will get a job, I will build us a home, I will learn how to fight to protect her from the Heartless, anything!"

Sora paused. The way Naveen was describing his feelings for Tiana sounded a lot like his feelings for Kairi….and there was no doubt the boy cared a great deal about _her._Furthermore, Naveen had the perfect opportunity to marry a beautiful woman with lots of munny….but would rather marry the broke, hard working waitress. It was quiet touching.

"You _do _know that if you marry Tiana, you can't flirt with anyone else, right?" Sora warned him.

"I do not _want _another woman. This is what Mama Odie was trying to tell me back there: It is not munny I need, but Tiana."

"It took an ancient, magical lady for you to figure that out?" Sora smirked. "I realized that when you two were dancing!"

Naveen shook his head. "I am confused. Do you think we should be together or not?"

"Well of course I think you two should be together, but…you're so…different from each other!" Sora told him.

Naveen gave a small smirk. "Sora, that is _why _I love her! She is good for me. She has shown me the world through a whole new light…it is what makes her my better half!"

Sora pondered at his friend's words. _His better half?...Helped him see the world through a different light?...hm….that makes sense… and it sounds like love to me!_

"Naveen?" the boy finally spoke up.

"Hm?"

"If I help you win Tiana's heart….will you help me win Kairi's?"

Naveen gave a small 'humph'. "What makes you think I need your help?"

Sora just stared at him.

Naveen quickly nodded. "Deal. Help me make sure things go well tonight, and I will help you confess your feelings to Kairi."

Ray bounced in the air, overflowing with excitement. "I can't wait to tell Cher!"

Sora frowned. "Wait a minute…Cher? Isn't that the name of a singer….?"

Naveen quickly grabbed onto Ray and said, "No, no! I must tell her _alone!"_

"Right….you rascal you!" Giving a little squeal, the overjoyed firefly zipped off the roof.

Sora smiled and turned to his love struck friend. "So…what are we going to need?"

"I think we should set up a romantic dinner, including grapes, bananas, oranges, strawberries, and cherries, and I will mince them so they look presentable, then we shall find something that will make a lovely table, and chairs of course, and we must find some decorations, maybe roses or lilies,or…oooh! Maybe forget-me-nots! And of course, we need this all to be held in a breath taking location, a place she will never forget!" The frog took a moment to breath. "Did you get all that?"

Sora nodded. "Healthy food. Romantic crap. Hot place. Got it!"

* * *

"Where are you taking me?"

"Oh I just…wanted to show you a little something to celebrate our last night together-as frogs!"

Naveen had led Tiana to the very top of the steam boat, where a bowl and a pair of cups were turned over to form a dining table, and a large rose next to it.

Naveen had worked very hard to make this as romantic as possible, with Sora's help of course.

Speaking of which…

"Psst! Naveen!" Sora hissed from below the pillar.

Naveen sighed and quickly looked down when Tiana wasn't looking. "Yes?"

"I got you some fancy wear!" He motioned for the prince to come closer to him. Quickly he set a giant, black butterfly on his neck. "No man is a man without a moustache! But since I couldn't find a caterpillar, a bow tie will have to do!"

Naveen's eyes widened at the size of the insect. "Um…"

"All my years.." they heard Tiana say, "…no one's ever done anything like this for me." Naveen quickly stood up, as she turned to face him. The she-frog took one look at him and burst into giggles.

Naveen gave a shy smile. "Heh, it is too much, is it not?" Clearing his throat, the prince shooed the over sized butterfly away.

Sora frowned from his spot below the pillar. "Well_, I_thought it was a nice touch." He made sure to stay quiet. Tiana had no idea he was spying on their dinner.

Naveen chuckled, nervously. "Pretend..you did not see that." He motioned towards the upside down cups. "Please, sit down." He watched as his love sat down with a smile.

"Dude! The healthy food! Get her the healthy food!" Sora hissed up at him.

Quickly following the boy's orders, Naveen grabbed a special dish with a lid. (Where he got one that small, don't ask me)

"What's this?" Tiana asked the prince.

"Hm…a serving dish…what could possibly be under there?' Sora whispered to himself.

"Ta da!" Naveen sang as he removed the lid, revealing perfectly minced fruit.

"You minced!" Tiana cired.

"I did!" Naveen gushed.

"He's such a big boy!" Sora couldn't help but whisper.

"You've had quiet an influence on me!" Naveen told Tiana, in a smooth voice. "Which is amazing, because I have dated _thousands _of women and-ow!"

The prince rubbed the back of his head, where a small rock had thumped him. "Ex-nae, on your tes-da!" a certain boy hissed.

Naveen nervously cleared his throat and said, "I mean, like, two…maybe three-just other women!" He fumbled with the shell that held the ring, while he said, "A-And listen, you _could not _be more different!"

"Yeah!" Sora quietly cheered.

"You-you are practically…ones of the guys!" Naveen said.

"No!" Sora quietly booed.

Naveen bit his lip at Tiana's expression. "No, no, no! You are not a guy!" He sighed than said, let me begin again!"

"Yes, again would be nice!" Sora, said, not so quietly this time.

Naveen took a deep breath and leaned on the platter full of food…only for it to tip over and send the prince crashing into the floor, covered in food.

Sora banged his head on the pillar, repeatedly.

Naveen gave a nervous chuckle, and said, "I am…not myself tonight…" His eyes widened as he saw the wedding shell by his love's feet. "TIANA!" he cried, quickly grabbing it. "Um…sorry, that was loud…uh, this is a disaster."

Tiana shook her head. "No….it's cute," she told him, gently. "I think everything is beautiful,the food, the decorations, the view, but…"

"But what?" Naveen asked, hastily.

"I think I'm comin' down with something," Tiana told him. "I keep hearing Sora's voice…"

A cough was heard from below the pillar.

Naveen chuckled, softly. Taking a quick glance at Tiana, the frog prince got down on one knee and said, "Um, Tiana I-"

"There it is!" Tiana cried, excitedly. She quickly ran over to the edge of their spot, and sat down, admiring an old building.

Sora resumed his banging. "Tiana, I love you and all, but get your green butt back into the romantic aura!" he whispered, not actually wanting her to hear him.

Naveen knew only one building could make Tiana react in such a way. "Your restaurant?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Can't you just picture it?" Tiana gushed. "All lit up like the fourth of July!"

_Fourth of July? Must be a New Orleans expression… _Sora thought to himself.

Naveen chuckled. "Yes, Jazz pouring out of every window!" He happily imitated a horn blowing.

"It's gonna be elegant!" Tiana cheered.

Naveen wrapped an arm her. "But you gotta let it loose too, gotta make it swing!"

Tiana pretended to ponder. "You know a good ukulele player?"

The prince looked touched. "Really? You'd let me perform?"

"I'll talk to the owner," the she-frog looked away for a second, "Owner says yes!"

"Ashidanza!" Naveen cried in joy.

Sora watched blissfully at the obvious love burning between the two frogs. "I should probably mention to them Sora Jr. is a great name for a kid."

Tiana sighed. "Folks will be comin' from all walks of life, just to get a taste of our food," she said, while resting her head on Naveen's shoulder.

"_Our_food?" He exchanged a glance with Sora before opening the wedding shell.

But then everything fell downhill.

"Hm?" Tiana piped. "Oh no, my daddy! He always wanted to open his own restaurant….he died before he could see it happen." The she-frog grabbed Naveen's hand and said, "And tomorrow, with you help, our dream is finally going to come true."

"Tomorrow?" Sora whispered to himself.

"Tomorrow?" Naveen asked Tiana.

She gave a helpless shrug. "If I don't deliver that munny by first thing tomorrow morning, I lose this place forever."

Naveen was quiet for almost an entire minute before sighing a deep sigh. "Tiana, I love-"

Sora held his breath, getting ready for his friend to pop the big question….only to release it in a rush, once he saw him close the shell.

"Huh?" the boy whispered.

"-the way you…light up when you talk about your dream."

"Again, huh?" Sora whispered.

"A dream that is beautiful I," the prince gently grabbed Tiana's hand and said, "I promise…I will do whatever it takes to make it come true."

Sora almost fell off the boat when he heard a horn blasting, signifying they would be docking soon.

"I will..I will go round up the boys," Naveen said sadly, grabbing the shell that held the ring and trudging off.

Tiana watched him go with a forlorn expression. Her heart ached from her want, no her _need_ to hold him, to kiss him…

But she had no proof he felt the same way…and even if he did, how would they get the munny for her restaurant if he didn't marry Charlotte? She couldn't let her father down…

Sighing, Tiana looked up at Ray's true love and whispered, "Evangeline…I've always been so sure about what I wanted, but now…uh, what do I do? Please tell me."

* * *

"O.K, I did_ not _hear a proposal!" Sora instantly complained as Naveen jumped off the pillar.

"No, but I heard _you. _Every two seconds, " the prince told him.

"What happened up there, man?" the keyblade wielder whined.

"Sora, there is no way possible I will be able to get her the munny she needs by tomorrow morning! It is already almost midnight!"

The young boy was starting to panic. No WAY was their story ending like this! Sora quickly pulled out his own munny. "Fine, take mine! Take it all! I have about 300…"

"It is not enough," Naveen told him. "She needs_ big_munny, like filthy rich munyy…but I appreciate it."

Sora wanted to argue, but he knew his friend was right. A few scraps of munny wasn't going to cut it. "So what?" he cried. "You're just giving up? I thought you loved Tiana!"

"I do!" Naveen snapped. "Which is why I must let her go. I must put her first."

"But you didn't tell her how you feel! Maybe she'll pick you over the restaurant!"

Naveen shook his head. "She is not going to give up something she has worked her entire life for, just for a lazy man she just met two days ago! Forget it Sora, it is over."

_No…it can't be… _Sora thought to himself. He turned his face away from Naveen, and took a few deep breaths. "Naveen….love can make you do strange things. I think…no, I _know _she loves you back, if you just go-" The boy didn't finish his advice…he was too startled by the keyblade that suddenly appeared in his hand. "Wha-?"

"Sora!"

Sora quickly turned around to find Naveen in the claws of a group of Heartless who seemed to be burning with dark magic. "Naveen!" the boy cried.

"Sora! Hel-" the prince was cut off as one of the Heartless covered his mouth with a clawed hand. Before the young boy could do anything else, the Heartless who had his friend in their grips dashed away.

"Hey! Let him go!" Sora cried in anger. He began to follow the Heartless in pursuit, but was soon blocked by three new ones. "Outta my way!"

Sora quickly pointed his keyblade at Heartless #1, and shot fire at the creepy creature…it seemed rather uneffective. "O.K, so fire's bad against them," the boy whispered.

Heartless #1 instantly reacted. It began flapping it's arms repeatedly until a dark tornado appeared, then with a flick of it's wrist, the tornado was sent towards Sora…luckily the young boy was able to dodge it.

Gathering up his magic, Sora pointed his keyblade in the sky and cried "THUNDER!" A bolt of lightning crashed down and zapped Heartless #3.

Jumping back from #3's attacks, Sora swung his keyblade, and attacked Heartless #1. The Heartless scratched the boy, trying to push him away, but Sora's determination was strong. He was able to reduce the creature's health to a quarter once he was done.

The boy clenched his teeth as he felt one of those dark tornados hit him from behind. Scowling, the boy turned to Heartless #1, pointed the keyblade towards it, and cried "ICE!" It did not freeze the Heartless, but it did take affect.

Sora cried out in pain as he felt Heartless #3 jump on his back, and began biting his shoulder. (and it was hard to support the Heartless's weight at _his_ height) The boy frowned, jumped in the air, and made sure to land on his back, causing him to land on the Heartless, causing it to disperse.

"Ooh! Powerful reaction!" Sora cheered.

Two more Heartless remained. Sora threw his keyblade at Heartless #2, cutting it across it's side. Hurrying before the Heartless attacked, Sora pulled out an elixir and used it to heal his wounds and restore his magic.

Heartless #2 opened it's arms up wide, and let long tentacles spill from it's chest. These were special Heartless indeed.

"O.K, that's just not right," Sora breathed.

The tentacles wrapped around the boy's feet, and began smashing him against the ground. Let's just one the creature was finally done, the boy was a dizzy mess….but not dizzy enough so he couldn't fight!

"FIRAGA!" the boy shouted.

A giant fireball emerged from his keyblade and burned Heartless #2. It soon dispersed after the impact.

Sora winced as he felt Heartless #1 scratch him from behind. Unfortunately, it was a heavy impact. "I _just_ restored my health!" the boy growled, then pulled out a Hi-potion and healed himself.

Getting back on his feet, Sora jumped out of the way of the Heartless's next attack, and began hitting it in a string of combos. Soon, the Heartless dispersed.

The boy took a few deep breaths. The battle was short, but he would not want to face a group of _those. _Remembering his friend in peril, Sora quickly checked his surroundings. "Naveen!"

His friend and the Heartless were gone.

Sora shook his head in disbelief. "No…Naveen? NAVEEN!" The boy frantically looked around for a hint to where they might have gone, but found none. The Heartless had taken him without leaving a trace.

Sora just couldn't accept it. He couldn't accept the fact he had just lost his friend to the Heartless. He couldn't accept the fact he had failed to save him. _No…no,no,no….he can't be gone! He can't be!_

"NAVEEN!" Sora cried in desperation. Of course, there was no answer. "Aw no," the boy whispered. Brushing back his spiky, brown hair, he whispered, "I don't understand it…Heartless are usually attackers, not kidnappers…who are they taking him too? Who wants to hurt Naveen?"

* * *

**Will I finally update at a reasonable time? Possible not! Why? Because I have other stories I need to update, and school gets in the way! But maybe if I get some sweet reviews I'll skip a few stories!**

**Please excuse the grammar mistakes. Something is wrong with my proofreader.**

**Please R&R!**


	8. Meet the Fraud

**Wow.**_** Seriously**_** lacked reviews. But I'm seriously lacking updates, so I guess it's fair! **

_**Elcid009: **__**Yes, I know I make Sora a little OOC at times, but I'm just having fun. I'm kind of putting a bit of myself in the characters, and adding my own personal fan dubs! Put you have to admit, sometimes I hit it spot on!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, The Princess and the Frog, or chocolate bunnies. The last one has nothing to do with anything.**

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* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._**

"Prince Naveen, darlin'!" an ecstatic Charlotte sang, waiting impatiently for her fiancée to escort her to her royal wedding. "You better hurry up. Don't want to be late for our Mardi Gras wedding!"

"Um…getting dressed!" a husky voice called from behind the door. "Just a few moments, my dearest heart!"

Charlotte sighed. Her soon-to-be husband had been avoiding her for days! She knew it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but this was just ridiculous! Oh well, they'd have plenty of time to talk after their wedding.

"Okay honey lamb! We'll be waiting at the parade!" Turning her head, the blond woman screamed to her father, "Daddy! Start the car!"

It was too bad young Charlotte couldn't see who she had been talking to at the other side of the door. For it was in fact, not the young, handsome Prince Naveen, but the old, busty Lawrence. Disguised as the prince of Maldonia, he was supposed to marry the rich, young Charlotte, and inherent her father's fortune.

But how was he supposed to do that _when he didn't look like the prince?_

"Oh good heavens!" Lawrence groaned. "I'm doomed!" He cry was met by a card thrown at him from across the room.

"No Larry, _I'm _the one who's doomed!" Dr. Facilier sneered.

"Is there a problem?" a smug Saix asked from his position leaning on the wall.

"Don't give me that look!" the Shadow Man snapped. "There are _your _creatures, ain't they? So why haven't they brought the prince yet?"

Saix gave a soft chuckle. "Always pinning the blame on others. Never taking responsibility for your own actions."

"Shut it! You don't know me!" Dr. Facilier bellowed.

"You're not hard to figure out," the blue-haired smirked. "Anyway, don't forget our deal: I give you more power, you give me the prince's heart."

"Ya'll cheatin' me!" the dark man pointed an accusing finger. "You gave me weak monsters, knowing they'd never help me repay my debt! You want all the hearts and souls to yourself! Including mine!"

"Perhaps you didn't hear me before," Saix muttered. "I have no interest in souls. Besides, why would I want you weak, little heart?"

The Shadow Man was about to make a retort, when a deep growl erupted from the fireplace. Facilier and Lawrence took a few steps back, while Saix merely smirked. In another instant, the flaming Heartless had seeped through the fire, one carrying the _real _Prince Naveen by his flipper.

"Oh look. It's my weak monsters," Saix said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Dr. Faciler chuckled darkly as he grabbed the squirming frog from the Heartless' grip. "Ah! I'm back in business!"

"Indeed," the black cloaked man stated. "I must depart now. As soon as you are done robbing the people of New Orleans of the souls, I _expect _to see their hearts ready for me."

Naveen, who had stopped squirming long enough to hear the man's words, was stunned. "What?"

Saix looked down at him "Oh, don't worry. You have a role in this. You're so useless, in yet your heart is the strongest of Maldonia. Quiet intriguing."

The Shadow Man rolled his eyes. "Don't you worry about it. As soon as I get what I want, you can have what _you _want."

Naveen couldn't believe what he was hearing. The man who had transformed him into a frog wanted to capture the souls of New Orleans, and this strange man in a black coat wanted their _hearts?_ And apparently _his?_

"You had better. Your 'friends' aren't the only ones who know how to punish those who don't keep their promises," Saix warned. Taking a few steps back, the Nobody lifted his hand. In another instant, a dark, swirling portal appeared before them.

"I must go now," Saix announced in his monotone voice. "I must check on little Kairi."

The prince of Maldonia's heart froze. Kairi? As in, _Sora's _Kairi? No, it couldn't be. He must have misheard! "Where…where is Kairi?" the prince asked.

Saix turned his head slightly. "In Organization 13's dungeon. She's very happy there, but what is it to you?"

Organization 13? The group that Sora had told them about! The group that had kidnapped the young boy's girlfriend! Here was one of the abductors right in front of him! Gathering up his courage, Naveen scowled and said, "Release her, you savage! Return her to my friend!"

"'Friend'?" Saix asked, finally showing some interest. After pausing for a minute, the man turned to face the captured frog. "I assume you mean Sora?"

He only got a frown as a response.

"Who _won't _that little runt befriend these days?" the Luna Diviner smirked.

"Wait a minute, who's this 'Sora' guy?" Dr. Facilier spoke up.

"Your competition. No doubt he'll fight you for these people's souls," was Saix's last words. For in another instant, he had vanished within his dark abyss.

Lawrence shook his head in shock. "How did I get tangled up in all this Voodoo madness?"

"Not important!" Facilier instantly snapped. "I don't care who this 'Sora' man is, but I'm not afraid of 'em! And right now, I've got some blood I need to steal!"

Eyes widening, Naveen resumed his struggling. "Get your filthy hands off me!"

The Shadow Man tightened his grip. "Shut it, froggy!" he growled, while pulling out the prince's hand.

Lawrence chuckled darkly and pulled out a talisman. "Now hold still, your eminence!"

* * *

"Mardi Gras!"

"Mardi Gras!"

"Gawrsh Donald….I don't feel so good," Goofy moaned, as he crawled off the boat. His face had a tint of green in it.

"Well, that's what you get for eating all that pie!" Donald scolded. "You'd think the cheese incident on the Steamboat Willie would have taught you a thing or two!"

"But it's a party! You're supposed to eat at parties!" Goofy whined.

Tiana didn't pay attention to her friend's argument. Something was wrong. "Ray….have you seen Naveen and Sora?"

The small firefly merely gushed. "Look at you….where the ring at?"

Goofy cocked his head to the side. "What ring?"

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Tiana asked.

Ray's eyes widened in shock. Shrugging, he turned his back to the group and said, "Well if Cap don't say nothin', I ain't gonna say nothin'! 'Cause 'ol Ray sealed up tight like a drum, you ain't gonna get nothin' out of me, no!"

Tiana was about to say something, but Donald placed a claw on her shoulder. "Just forget it Tiana. He's not going to tell-"

But apparently the tiny insect had changed his mind. "Okay, Cap not gonna marry Charlotte, he gonna marry you!"

"What?" Donald and Goofy cried in unison.

Tiana was silent.

"Yeah! As soon as he gets himself kissed and get you both turned human, he's gonna get himself a job, and get you that restaurant, and-oh! I said too much, didn't I?"

Finally, Tiana smiled and grabbed Ray into hug and cried, "You said just enough Ray!" Looking up at the stars, she whispered, "Oh, thank you Evangeline!"

"Wait…Naveen wants to marry _Tiana?"_ Goofy questioned.

"Oh boy!" Donald cheered. "You two beat Sora and Kairi by eleven years!"

"Come on, follow me!" the she-frog smiled, hopping into the crowd of people.

"But wait…where does Sora fit into this?" Goofy asked, as he followed Tiana in pursuit.

"That sneak! He probably found out before we did, and is already thinking up names for a baby!" Donald answered. "I'll bet he thought of something silly, like 'Sora Jr.' or something…"

But once again, Tiana wasn't listening. _Naveen loved her back. He loved her back and he wanted to marry her!_ She was officially on cloud 9. "He was trying to propose! That's what all the fumblin' was about!" she cried, realizing Naveen's surprise dinner was his way of showing his love.

"Hey Cher! Whatta we lookin' for again?" Ray wanted to know.

"You just keep your eyes out for the biggest, gaudiest float with a Mardi Gras princess about to kiss herself a…"

The girl gasped.

"Tiana, what's wrong?" Donald asked, rushing to her side.

"…a frog," Tiana softly finished.

Ray, Donald, and Goofy followed her gaze to a giant, pink float. A preacher was on top, reciting wedding vows to a blond woman in a huge pink dress, and a gorgeous man with curly/ wavy brown hair. While the vows were being recited, the couple was gazing lovingly at each other.

Donald was the first to speak. "Is that Charlotte?"

"Oh good!" Goofy chuckled. "Ms. LaBouff found another man to marry! Now we don't hafta explain to her why Naveen can't marry her!"

"Goofy….that _is _Naveen!" Tiana sobbed.

"What?" Donald cried, horrified. He quickly turned to Ray and said, "I thought you said he wanted to marry Tiana!"

"He did!" Ray defended. He sounded hurt and confused.

Goofy grunted. "How did they set up a wedding so fast?"

Ray shook his head. "No…this can't be right, darlin'. Then how you can still be a frog? Mama Odie she-" But the heartbroken frogette was not there.

"Where did she go?" Donald whispered.

"I think I see her headin' towards de cemetery!" Ray announced.

"That's the last place she needs to be. Let's go!" Goofy cried, but Donald and Ray were way ahead of him.

They didn't have to search hard for their friend. They found her rubbing her arms, leaning on a gravestone.

Thunder crashed in the sky as the three friends slowly approached her. "….Tiana?" Goofy whispered.

Ray took the courage to fly beside her head. "I know what we seen wit our eyes…but if we just go back there…we gonna find your fairy tale come true!"

"This has to be a misunderstanding!" Donald assured. However, he was trying to convince himself along with Tiana.

"Just because you wish for something, doesn't make it true!" Tiana huffed.

Ray bit his lower lip. "It-It's just like my Evangeline always says to me-"

"Evangeline is nothing but a star Ray!" Tiana blew up. "A big ball of hot air burning a million miles from here!"

"Tiana! Donald cried.

"Open your eyes now before you get hurt," Tiana whispered before hopping off.

Goofy and Donald bowed their heads. Tiana was really hurt. What happened? Why did Naveen say he loved Tiana, but married Charlotte anyway? And _where _was Sora?

"Ray…" Goofy whispered, trying some way to provide comfort to his friend.

Ray's eyes filled with tears. "She's just speaking out of broken heart…that's all that is! We need to show Cher de truth! Donald, can ya'll keep an eye on Tiana for us, while Goofy and I go investigate?"

Donald frowned. He wasn't used to his party getting to stranded, but he was more than happy to supply comfort to his crestfallen friend. It was never a good idea to leave a depressed friend alone. "Okay, hurry back!"

Goofy and Ray nodded, and quickly headed back to the wedding.

* * *

"_Oh, this is NOT good," _Sora thought to himself. _Where could they have taken him?_ The young boy had been looking everywhere for his royal friend, but he couldn't find a single clue.

" …_.binding you throughout all eternity…._

Sora sharply turned his head towards a giant pink float that was carrying a preacher, a young man, and a pretty blond woman. The boy couldn't help but smile a bit. "Hey look, a wedding. Ironic."

But then the boy looked a little closer from the tree he was standing in. He gazed a little harder at the blond woman about to become a wife._ Those blue eyes…those chubby cheeks…that hair….doesn't she look a lot like…._

"Ms. Charlotte LaBouff?"

"Sora!"

The young boy looked down from his perch to see Goofy and Ray looking up at him. "Hey you guys! Where's Donald and Tiana?"

"Never mind that! Where have you been?" Goofy called up to him.

Sora bit his lower lip. "I've been trying to find Naveen."

Ray's antennas drooped. "Well…ya'll found 'em."

Sora was confused. "Huh?"

"He's over there, marryin' Charlotte!" Goofy pouted, motioning with his head towards the pink float.

Sora's mind stopped working for approximately two seconds. "W-What…? N-No! That's not Naveen!"

'That's what he looks like in his human form!" Goofy insisted.

The keyblade wielder shook his head. "No! That's not Naveen! He was captured by the Heartless! I _saw_ it happen!"

Goofy and Ray shot back in surprise. "What?" Ray cried.

"But then…if that's not Naveen, who is it?" Goofy moped.

"That's what we're about to find out!" Sora told him.

After assisting Goofy up the tree, Sora and his turtle/dog friend swiftly jumped onto the float with Ray quietly zipping beside them.

"Hate to be a wedding crasher, but with this particular one, I'll make an acception!" Sora whispered.

Ray nodded and quickly flew up to "Naveen's" ear. "Cap, watchoo doin' son?"

The prince waved his hand at the bug in disgust. "Ick!" he spat.

Sora frowned at the reaction. This _better _not be Naveen!

"If any of you object to the union of these two people, speak now or forever hold your peace," the preacher announced.

"Me! Me! I object!"

The three friends looked around. They all recognized that heavy accent! Finally, Sora's eyes landed on a small box by the imposter's feet. Or rather, they landed on the long tongue sticking out of the keyhole, trying to act as a leg to move the box.

"What the-?" Goofy scrunched his brow.

The fake prince looked down at the tongue, and with a heavy grunt, slammed down on it with his foot.

"….as long as you both shall live?"

"Hm?" the imposter hummed. Then snapping back into the present, he exclaimed, "Oh I do! Yes, I'm all for it!"

Sora's eyes widened. Instead of Naveen's French-like accent, this man's voice had a British tint to it. That was all the proof the boy needed. He quickly hopped over to the box where an obvious captive was being held. "Naveen? Is that you?"

"Sora! Is that you?"

"Yeah! Goofy and Ray are here too!"

"You guys need to get me out of this box!" the real prince pleaded.

"I can't hear you!" Ray shouted. "But Ima' get you outta this box!"

"But how?" Goofy frowned. "We don't have the key!"

Sora sighed. "If only we had some sort of giant key that could unlock all locks not matter what the size," he said, sarcastically.

"Yeah….," Goofy moaned. He sighed as he hopelessly looked at the box his friend was trapped in.

3...

2…

1…

_Bing!_

"Hey Sora, I've got an idea!" Goofy smiled. "Why don't you unlock it with your keyblade?"

"Good thinking Goof," Sora said in a monotone voice. He clutched his keyblade tightly in his hands, and pointed it towards the lock. He had to hold on tight as a blue beam of energy shot from it and pierced through the keyhole.

"Ow! My eye!"

"Oh! Sorry about that Naveen!" Sora called, lowering the blade. Apparently the beam had punctured his friend.

Without another word, the prince slapped the top of the box open and scowled a fierce scowl at the man impersonating him.

The preacher was just finishing his vows, "Then by the power invested in me by the state of Louisiana, I now pronounce you man and-"

But the vow was never finished. For at that moment, Naveen had jumped on the imposter, grabbed the talisman, and yanked the man off the float, causing the viewers of the wedding to cream in shock.

Sora, on the other hand, was impressed. "All right, Naveen!"

"Goodness gracious!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

The fake Naveen grabbed the frog and called , "I just need a moment to compose myself!"

"Cheese and crackers!" the blond exclaimed.

"After him guys!" Sora cried, pointing his keyblade at the enemy.

* * *

"Lawrence, why are you doing this?" Naveen pleaded, as he was carried off into a church.

"It's payback for all those years of…humiliation!" Lawrence-disguised-as-Naveen snarled.

"Hey! Let him go!" Sora cried from behind him.

The fake prince frowned at the rescuers. "Who _are _you three?"

"Sora, Ray, and Goofy to you! Not only did you kidnap and impersonate a prince, but you also got in between him and Tiana!"

Lawrence looked confused. "…What?"

"Get you royal rump back there and finish this deal!"

The four friends turned their heads sharply to find a tall, thin, African-American man with purple eyes. He had a dark scowl on his face, and his entire aura screamed dark magic.

"Shadow Man!" Naveen cried.

Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "The Shadow Man? You mean the guy who turned you into a frog in the first place?"

The dark man in mention followed the voice, until his strange eyes met the young boy's small form. "Who are _you?"_

"He just answered that!" Goofy told him.

Faciler rubbed his chin. "I don't remember turning _you _into a frog…."

"We have our _own _magic, Shadow Man!" Sora frowned. "What are you planning?"

The Shadow Man smirked. This boy was no threat to him. He was just a little frog. "I have many plans, but this one is simple. 'Ol Lawrence is going to marry Ms. Charlotte, and inherent her daddy's munny!"

Goofy shook his head. "What _is _it with people here and marryin' for munny?"

Naveen had not heard of the part of the plan. "So? You must still wait until her father is deceased before you get anything!"

Facilier smiled a dark smile and pulled out a little doll of a fat, red-headed man. "Oh…I don't think that'll be a problem," he smirked, as he pointed a small needle towards the doll's chest.

Sora gasped. This man meant murder! "Okay, that's enough!" Sharply, he threw his keyblade at Lawrence's hand, causing him to release the prince.

But Naveen wasn't leaving without the talisman. He roughly grabbed the trinket and snatched it off the imposter's neck. In another instant, a fat, old man replaced the gorgeous, thin prince.

"Ewwwwww…..," Sora, Goofy, and Ray moaned. Poor Charlotte was about to marry an old guy? They were true heroes now.

"What's he doin'? Stop him!" Facilier cried.

Grunting, Naveen was able to kick the talisman to Sora before getting caught in his valet's grip again. "Sora! Go!"

The boy didn't want to leave his friend, but he had to0 get the Voodoo item away from the Shadow Man. "Okay! We'll come back!"

"Don' you worry about a ting, Cap!" Ray called, as the three friends quickly rushed out of the church.

Lawrence began to panic. "They're getting-"

"Stay out of sight!" Facilier scowled. Swiftly, he placed his fingers to his lips and blew a shrill whistle. And in another instant, a group of Heartless appeared from the ground.

The Shadow Man pointed out the door. "Sic 'em!"

* * *

**I probably could have made this longer, but I needed to hurry up and update! I think I have about four chapters left. I'm not really proud of this chapter either, but hey! Next chapter is the final boss!**

**I'm sorry I made Goofy seem like an idiot, but the joke was staring me in the face! Also, I liked how I wrote Saix! Not to toot my own horn…**

**Until next time!**


	9. Meet the Boss

**Man, I haven't written anything in forever! But hey! Summer vacation! Which means I can update quicker! FINALLY!**

**I have been receiving a lot of complaints about Sora being too OOC, so I'm going to work harder on that from here on out. Even though I'm almost done!**

**Disclaimer: Square and Disney own everything!**

* * *

"Fly Ray, fly!" Sora cried, as he, Ray, and Goofy sped away from the church.

"I flyin' as fast as I can, Spikes!" Ray shouted back to him.

"Sora, the Heartless are followin' us!" Goofy cried, trying to hurry along.

"Then why we don' just fight 'em like real men?" Ray wanted to know.

"We don't have time to fight! We have to keep the talisman away from them!" Sora answered, never stopping to take a breath.

"For how long? We can't run from them forever!" Goofy moaned.

"Until…Until we find Tiana! She needs to see this!" Sora decided.

"But they're catchin' up to us!" Ray wailed.

**"ROOOOOAAAAARRR!"**

The three friends halted in shock at the sound of a loud roar ripping through the sky.

"That sounds like a huge Heartless!" Goofy whimpered.

Sora shook his head. "No, not a Heartless…." He quickly turned around to see a certain alligator snapping and swiping at a group of Heartless.

"Louis!" the three friends called in unison.

Louis bit into one Heartless before calling, "Sora! You guys need to run! 'Ol Louis will hold 'em off!"

Sora frowned. "You left the Mardi Gras? But what about your dream?"

"Forget that! I need to help my friends!" Louis called before swinging his tail at another Heartless. "Now run boy, run!"

Sora hesitated, but swiftly motioned for his friends to keep moving. "Be careful, okay?" he called back to his friend.

Louis swiped at another Heartless. "I'll be fine, go!"

The three friends then took off, determined to find their green friend. For a long time, no one said anything, but Sora made sure to run right under Ray, in case the little guy's arms gave out and he dropped the talisman.

"I hope lil' Louis will be fine!" Ray wailed.

"I wonder when he got so brave." Goofy wondered out loud.

Sora shook his head. "I don't know, but I'll tell you this much: I'm getting _really _tired of leaving our friends behind!"

* * *

"Tiana….please talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about, Donald. Just go."

"Tiana, I've traveled to many different worlds, and have met many different people. But if there is one thing they all have in common, is that love can easily blind-"

"There's no such thing!" Tiana snapped.

"Now, don't you say that!" Donald wailed, scooting closer to her.

"There's no such thing as love, Donald!" Tiana snapped at him. "_The prince_ taught me that…."

"Tiana, you don't believe that!" her friend tried to assure.

"Yes I do, Donald!" the she-frog argued. "It's a lie! It was all a lie! He never loved me and I…." she finished her sentence with a sob and turned her back to him.

Donald felt his heart sink, but moved closer towards his friend anyway. "You…what Tiana? You're not trying to tell me you never loved _him_?

"…"

"Tiana…let's say Naveen actually did propose to you…would you have accepted?" Donald asked.

"…"

"….Tiana-"

"Cher! Donald!"

The two friends quickly turned their heads to see Ray, Sora, and Goofy running up to them.

Donald jumped for joy. "Sora! There you are!"

But the boy didn't return the joyful greeting. His face was already occupied by a look of concern.

Tiana sat up a bit. "What's wrong?"

Ray held up the talisman. "This proves what we saw ain't what we thought we saw!"

"Yeah! We…uh, what we didn't see what we thought…uh…" Goofy moaned.

Ray quickly threw the talisman to Tiana, who caught it with ease. "What is this?"

"It's a voodoo hydeco!" Ray stumbled with his words.

"Yeah!" Sora nodded. "The Shadow Man used it to-"However, his words were cut off as a swarm off Heartless began to appear.

"Wak!" Donald cried. "What kind of Heartless are these?"

"Oh no…what happened to Louis?" Sora moaned.

Ray quickly turned to Tiana. "You can't let the Shadow Man get this, no matter what! Now run girl, run!"

Tiana hesitated for a second, but she was soon hopping through the graveyard, talisman in hand.

Ray puffed out his chest. "Sora, Donald, you go wit her!"

"No, we can't leave you and Goofy!" Sora argued. He hated leaving his friends in a tight spot, and this would be the third time it happened in one night!

"We can't let Tiana go off by herself!" Goofy wailed. "Half of us should fight the Heartless, and the other half should protect her!"

Sora bowed his head. "But…"

**"ROOOOOAAAAARRRR!"**

The boy's head snapped up at the sound of a familiar roar. He took a few steps back as Louis crashed through a section of the Heartless.

"Louis!" Donald cried.

"Sorry I got held up back there!" Louis apologized. "I'll help fight the Heartless! You go help Tiana, okay?"

Sora looked at Ray, Goofy, and Louis. He groaned as he felt a sick, twisting feeling swim in his stomach. Something felt wrong about this…like, something terribly wrong would happen if he left them there to fight alone…but Tiana could be in serious danger!

"….Okay. Come on, Donald!" the boy swallowed the lump in his throat before looking back at his friends once more.

Ray gave him a goofy smile. "Donchoo worry, Spikes! 'Ol Ray will meet you after we crush these Heartless!"

"Ray…" Sora whispered. Shaking his head, Sora began his pursuit after Tiana, Donald not far behind.

Ray tuned back to the Heartless and cried, "Don't make me light my butt!"

* * *

"Tiana, wait up!" Donald called out to the she-frog.

"No, keep running!" Sora argued.

Tiana hopped as fast as she could, completely aware that she and her friends were being chased by powerful Heartless. "Where are they all comin' from?" she called.

"The Shadow Man must have found a way to control the Heartless!" Sora called back.

He heard Tiana gasping for air. She was unable to run, so hopping was her only option. But the boy didn't know how long she could go on, especially while she was holding a talisman that was the size of her head.

"Tiana! Toss the talisman over to-"the keyblade master's words were cut short as the giant shadow of the Shadow Man appeared before them, hissing a shrill hiss.

"The Shadow Man!" Sora gasped.

Donald checked their surroundings. "But….where is he?"

Sora followed Donald's gaze. There were plenty of Heartless, yes. But no Shadow Man. Now Sora was confused. "Are you telling me this guy _isn't_ attached to his shadow?"

"I guess we know now why he's called 'The Shadow Man'," Donald groaned.

The two boys froze up as the shadow slinked closer to them. At that moment, they were a little scared. Could they attack a shadow? Could the shadow attack them? Was the Shadow Man hiding behind a gravestone somehow controlling the shadow?

But Tiana didn't appear to be scared one bit. Instead, a determined look crossed her face, as she lifted the talisman above her head. "Back off!" she cried. "Or I'm gonna break this thing into a million pieces!"

"Yeah!" Donald cheered, gathering up his courage.

"Why didn't we think of that before?" the boy wondered. It was surprising how blank your mind could go when you were being chased by Heartless.

"Hey!"

The three friends turned their heads to see a certain man of shadows scowling at them.

"Shadow Man!" Sora cried in alarm.

The infuriated looking man grabbed some strange, purple dust from his jacket's pocket, and blew it in their direction.

"Look out! It's a magic attack!" Donald cried, as Sora drew his keyblade.

But the magic didn't come anywhere near them. Instead, it went straight to Tiana, flowing around her until it caused her body to glow a bright purple.

"Tiana!" Donald cried in horror.

Sora pointed his keyblade at the Shadow Man. "Let her go!"

The dark man chuckled. "Let her go? From what?"

"From-"but the boy ceased his words as the purple light disappeared, and in the small frog girl's place….was a human! A gorgeous African-American woman in a beautiful white dress and a bit of a movie star get up.

Sora had to blink a few times to comprehend this. "T-Tiana?"

But that was all the boy got say, for at that moment the purple fog wrapped around _his _body, as well as Donald's.

Sora began to cough as the fog entered his lungs. He felt his body stretch longer…longer…longer, until finally the fog cleared.

The Heartless were gone, and he was now standing in the most beautiful restaurant he had ever seen.

It was a golden utopian, with a beautiful chandelier. There were people everywhere, eating and laughing, and just flat out having a great time. Many were dressed in expensive clothes, or fancy get-ups, and the food smelled fantastic!

"Wow…" Sora breathed. Man, did _he _feel underdressed! What with his baggy pants and street gloves…hey! His baggy pants and street gloves! He was a human again!

Sora tried out his legs by walking a few steps to the center of the restaurant. He would miss jumping so high, but it felt reassuring to be able to walk without hopping around!

"So…this is what you look like as a human, Sora!"

Sora quickly turned his head to find Tiana and Donald, who was back to his duck form.

"Yeah, same with you," the boy smiled.

"Uh…where are we?" Donald asked, looking around at stupendous décor.

Tiana looked around quietly, and whispered, "This…this looks like my dream restaurant."

"Your restaurant?" Sora exclaimed. "You mean the one you've been working for your whole life?"

Tiana nodded eagerly. "Yes! But…how did we get here?"

Donald shoulders drooped. "I don't know…ask Naveen. Maybe he knows," he said, pointing behind the beautiful woman.

Sora's eyes widened and quickly looked behind him. "Wait…._Naveen?"_

Donald's eyes suddenly snapped open in realization. "Wak! Naveen!"

Sure enough, a man with familiar wavy, brown hair was playing his ukulele by the window, tapping his foot to the beat.

Tiana took a hesitant step forward. "Naveen?" she whispered.

Lost in the music, the man turned around, still playing his ukulele. The three friends deflated as they saw this man was at least 40 years old. It wasn't Naveen.

"Aw…" Donald groaned.

"Bummer…" Sora added.

Tiana didn't say anything, but Sora knew she was the most crestfallen of them all.

"Now!"

The three friends snapped out of their slump at the sound of a familiar voice. They turned to find the Shadow Man leaning casually in a chair with a glass of wine in between his fingers. "Doesn't this seem a lot nicer than hopping around the bayou for the rest of your life?" he smirked.

"I seriously doubt you belong in this dream," Sora frowned, crossing his arms.

"Shadow Man…" Tiana whispered.

Said man stood up from his seat and began shuffling a pack of cards, nonchalantly. "I gotta hand it to you, Tiana. When you dream, you dream big!" He motioned towards the splendor surrounding them. "Just look at this place! Gonna be the crown jewel of the city!"

Sora glared at the man. What was he planning? Why was he toying with Tiana's dream?

His questions were soon answered, as the Shadow Man said, "And all you have to do to make this dream a reality…is hand over that lil' 'ol talisman of mine!"

"What?" Sora fumed. This man was using his friend's dream against her! What a creep!

"Why you little-!" Donald growled, rolling up his sleeve.

"No," Tiana whispered. "This…This is not right."

The Shadow Man waved his hand in the air, causing a small ball of purple smoke to appear. "Come one, darlin'! Think of all the sacrifices you've made!"

Sora's eyes widened in surprise as an image of a girl appeared in the smoke, saying, "_Girl, all you ever do is work!"_ Another image of a girl appeared, this time saying, _"I told ya'll she wouldn't come!"_

"Think of all the nay-sayers who doubted you!" the Shadow Man continued, showing an image of a large man, chuckling while saying, _"You ain't never gonna get enough munny for that dang payment!"_ Another image, this time a thin man with glasses, _"Being a woman of your background…you're better off where you're at!"_

"Woah, offensive!" Donald glared.

"She didn't get a lot of support, did she?" Sora whispered. The boy had been ready to attack the Shadow Man, ready to stop him from using Tiana's dream to his advantage, but now….he wasn't sure he had the right.

"And let's not forget your poor, 'ol daddy!" the Shadow Man smirked opening a curtain to a window.

Sora and Donald gasped as Tiana slowly walked over to the window, where she saw an illusion of her father returning from work. The two boys slowly walked up beside her.

"Now _that _was a hardworking man!" the Shadow Man taunted. "Double, sometimes _triple_ shifts. Never lettin' out how bone tired and beat down he really was."

The three friends watched as the image changed to an exhausted looking man, rubbing the back of his neck.

"_Daddy!"_ a small voice called out.

Sora was surprised at how quickly the man sat up at the voice. _"Hey, baby cakes!"_

"Shame all that hard work didn't amount to much more than a busted up, old gumbo pot….and a dream that never got off the back porch."

Donald frowned and said, "How does he know so much about her?"

"Stalker," the boy whispered, his eyes never leaving the illusions.

"But you…" the Shadow Man whispered. "You can give your poor Daddy everything he ever wanted."

Tiana looked sadly at the image of her father, hugging her and her mother.

"Come on, Tiana…you're almost there!" Dr. Facilier whispered in her ear.

Tiana didn't say anything. Her gaze was frozen on the illusion in front of her. Slowly, she brought the talisman down into the Shadow Man's outstretched hand.

"Tiana!" Donald cried out, getting ready to stop her.

Sora quickly held him back. "This is her choice, Donald! Not ours." He saw the illusion of her late father. How could he, a boy from a completely different world, tell her not complete her father's dream? He knew there would be serious consequences to taking the deal; including losing the lives of those most close to her. Goofy. Louis, and Ray would be crushed by the Heartless. Charlotte would end up marrying that disgusting Lawrence, and her father would be killed.

Who _knew _what would happen to Naveen once the Shadow Man was done with him? He'd probably be killed as well.

And the citizens of New Orleans? They would be at the mercy of the Shadow Man.

Sora knew all of this, but he didn't make a move to stop Tiana. He knew she was a smart woman. He knew whichever path she chose….she would make it all right in the end. He was confident. He believed in her.

Tiana took a deep breath. "My daddy never did get what he wanted…"

Sora sighed, but nodded his head in acceptance. He couldn't expect her to give up an opportunity to obtain her father's dream. Not when she had worked or it her whole life…

"….but he had what he _needed!"_

Sora and Donald gasped as Tiana snatched the talisman out of the Shadow Man's reach. "He had love!" the woman snapped. She began to advance upon the evil man, all while saying, "He never lost sight of what was truly important!"

The Shadow Man backed away from the woman, obviously nervous with how careless she was holding his talisman. "Easy with that! Careful!" he pleaded, losing his cool demeanor.

"And neither will_ I_!" she finished, chucking the talisman at the floor….only to have Facilier's shadow grab onto the shadow of the talisman, stopping it from falling.

"Oh no!" Donald cried in horror.

Facilier let out an evil chuckle, as his shadow handed him his talisman. After waving his hand over it, purple magic streamed out and wrapped around the three friends, instantly turning them back into their frog and alligator forms. The restaurant was gone.

"Ya'll should've taken my deal!" the Shadow Man sneered, pinning Tiana down his cane. "Now you're gonna spend the rest of your life as a _slimy little frog_!"

Sora saw Tiana's predicament and called, "Hey Shadow Man! News flash! It's not slime! It's mucus!" Then sharply, the boy chucked his keyblade at the cane, knocking it from his grip, causing him to fall over, accidentally releasing Tiana.

She quickly hopped over to Sora, all while still glaring at the Shadow Man. "What do we do now, Sora?"

The boy drew his keyblade. "Fight 'em of course!"

"Fight him?" she echoed. "How?"

Sora pondered this. "Well…I say we aim for his talisman! There has to be a reason he's so protective of that thing!"

"Look out! Here he comes!" Donald warned.

Sure enough, the Shadow Man was getting back up, his cane flaming with purple magic. "Ya'll gonna regret this!"

"Sora, we have to be careful of his magic!" Tiana told her friend.

Facilier's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait…Sora? The man Saix was talking about?_ But you're just a kid!"_

"…'Saix'?" Sora echoed.

"A foolish boy at that!" Facilier glared. "Well, no matter! I won't lose to the likes of you! Get ready to join my friends on the other side!"

Donald glared at the Shadow Man and cried, "FIRE!" A small ball of fire shot out of his staff, not even causing the man to wince.

"Uh, magic has no effect on him!" Sora warned.

"I guess we'll have to rely on our brute strength!" Tiana announced. Shortly after this, she skyrocketed into the sky and kicked Facilier's talisman.

Sora was about to rush off and help Tiana, but suddenly became frozen in place. He glanced down to find Facilier's shadow holding him by the ankles. With a shrill cry, the creature threw Sora in the air and scratched him multiple times.

After such an attack, Sora felt pretty weak in the knees, but he quickly shook it off and began striking the talisman, repeatedly.

He was soon slapped away by the Shadow Man, however. "I told you not to touch that!" he cried. He gathered purple energy in his hand and flung it at Tiana, causing her massive damage.

Tiana groaned and tried to get back on her feet, but was immediately grabbed by the shadow and flung into a gravestone.

"I'll bet ya'll regret your choice now, don't ya?" Facilier smirked, swinging his burning cane at the approaching Donald.

Donald was knocked down for a second, but then waved his staff in the air and cried, "TIANA!" curing her injuries.

"Much obliged!" she called, as the green aura washed over her.

Donald nodded in her direction, and then began striking the Shadow Man with his staff, causing minimal damage.

Tiana charged at Facilier, only to be swiped away by his shadow. The shadow released a shrill hiss, as the she-frog jumped over his attack and tongue-attacked Facilier's talisman.

The shadow hissed and moved to attack Tiana once more, but was stopped by Sora's keyblade cutting through its dark aura. He wasn't surprised to find that this creature's vulnerability was similar to those of a Shadow Heartless. The boy was so focused on attacking the shadow, he didn't notice Facilier throwing a purple flame at him until it was too late.

The Shadow Man had a smug grin on his face, until Tiana appeared once again and released a string of combos on the evil man. Growling in frustration, he took his flaming cane and smacked her away with it. He winced in pain as he felt Sora's keyblade cut across his chest.

His frustration only grew as he felt Donald strike him with his staff. As he threw Donald off him, his shadow began to repeatedly scratch Sora.

"CURE!" Donald cried, curing his friend before he collapsed.

Tiana turned her focus on the sinister shadow as she began to repeatedly kick it actually causing it to faint. She watched in awe as the shadow seemed to drag Facilier to his knees as well. "Sora, quick! While he's down!"

Sora didn't need to be told twice. The boy quickly released a chain of combos, while Tiana and Donald put in their fair share of attacks. It almost wasn't worth once the Shadow Man regained consciousness, and practically _lit _himself on fire with purple magic, blasting the three friends away.

Unfortunately, the shadow had returned as well. It hastily grabbed Tiana by her ankles and smashed her into the gravel.

Donald watched as Sora and Facilier got into a cane/keyblade fence, Sora having the upper hand, due to the Shadow Man having to bend down to attack the small frog.

The duck/alligator quickly moved behind the dark man and began to attack him with his staff, giving Sora the upper hand in their hand-to-hand combat. However, this advantage was lost as Sora was dragged away by the shadow and thrown into a gravestone.

The boy groaned in pain and tried to rub away the pain.

"Sora!"

Said boy lifted his head to find Tiana hopping over in his direction. And idea suddenly formed in the young boy's head. "Tiana, we have to combine our attacks!"

The she-frog nodded, climbing onto his back. "I call this trinity, 'Leap Frog'!" Sora announced, seeming to have the same idea as his friend. That being said, he jumped in the air with Tiana on his back. As soon as they reached Facilier's neck, Sora began spinning rapidly, causing Tiana to swing her tongue at the talisman, repeatedly.

A radiant light blinded them, as they were thrown back into the gravel. The Shadow Man's talisman was now nothing but broken glass by their feet.

"NO!" the Shadow Man wailed. He quickly pushed them aside and tried to place the pieces back together. _"No, no, how am I ever gonna repay my debt?"_

"**Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum"**

Sora grabbed Tiana's shoulder and dragged her a few steps back. "Uh…what was that?"

"Wak!" Donald cried out, pointing towards the sky as hideous purple and green masks broke out of their prisons inside a pair of giant gravestones.

"**Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum"**

"What the-?" Sora screeched, trying to pull his friends as far away as possible.

"Friends!" The Shadow Man pleaded.

"**Are you **_**READY?" **_the masks jeered.

Facilier looked terrible. Where there was once a confident, manipulative schemer, was a helpless, dishelved man. "NO! I'm not ready at all! In fact, I've got losts more plans!"

"**Are you **_**READY?"**_ the masks continued.

"This is just a minor setback in a major operation!" the man defended, nervously. "As soon as I whip up another spell, we'll be back in business!" But his 'friends' were not listening. He watched in horror as small voodoo dolls crawled out the ground, seeking to grab his soul and drag it down.

"Come on, I still got that froggy prince locked away!" he pleaded, backing into a gravestone…which instantly turned into another mask, this one much larger than the other ones.

"I just need a little more time!" He tried once more to back away from the creatures about to advance upon him…but his efforts were in vain as a shadow reached out from the jaw of the mask and grabbed onto the leg of his own shadow, and began to yank him to his doom.

"_Just a little more time!"_ he pleaded.

The creatures of voodoo only chuckled in response, as they continued to pull his down to the 'other side'.

"I PROMISE I'LL PAY YA'LL BACK! I PROMISE! _**NO!**_" Those were his final words, as he finally pulled into the mask, all the voodoo creatures following him.

**FLASH!**

The three friends shielded their eyes as a bright green light flashed through the sky…and when they looked again, a gravestone with the Shadow Man's face and name was in the giant mask's place.

None of them said a word.

They sat like that in silence for quite some time, before Sora finally broke the silence, "I….I didn't know that was going to happen."

"M-Me either," Donald agreed.

"I thought…I thought like all his powers would drain or something…not….not all that…wow," Sora babbled.

Tiana was breathing heavily, but she quickly recovered and grabbed Sora's hand. "Come on! We have to find Naveen!"

The boy nodded, still in a daze. "Yes…let us do that…"

* * *

**PLEASE tell me how I did on that battle scene! You guys know by now that's always a hassle for me!**

**I'll update as soon as I can, and now that it's summer, it should be within a reasonable time! HAZZAH!**

**P.S-Please remember that Sora doesn't know Saix's name until Axel says it….in fact, I think the boy only knew four of the organization member's names!**


	10. Meet New Orleans

**Okay, here it is! The final chapter! I thank everyone who stayed with me through it all, even when I took forever to update! I also thank those who added my story to their Favorites and Story Alert list! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but that's all right! I won't cry!**

* * *

"Do you see Naveen yet?" Tiana asked, once the team had reached the church.

Sora shook his head. "No….but look!" he cried, pointing towards a certain large man being dragged away by two men in police uniforms.

"It's Lawrence!" Sora exclaimed.

Tiana frowned. "Who?"

"He's the guy you saw almost marry Charlotte! He was using the talisman to disguise himself as Naveen!" the boy explained.

Tiana gave a small gasp. "So…Naveen _didn't_ try to marry Lottie?"

"No! It was all a trick!" Donald exclaimed, a little hint of smugness coming from his voice. After all, hadn't he been the one who tried to convince the she-frog that the prince's love was true?

"Boys! Take this maggot downtown!" A rather big man with a thick, red moustache, ordered the police.

"I'm completely innocent!" They saw Lawrence beg as he was pushed into the police cart. "The Shadow Man bamboozled me!" But the police shrugged off his pleas, and slammed the cart door in his face.

"Well, looks like he got what he deserved!" Sora smiled. In yet, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the chubby, old man. What if he really was tricked? What if the Shadow Man had promised him something mandatory? But surely he had known of the dark man's plot to kill young Charlotte's father? And he had gone along with it. There was on excuse for that.

Sora sighed, knowing that the only reason he was trying to defend the prince impersonator was because…well…he had his own experience with someone who was tricked into joining the dark side. Lord knew, he forgave Riku, but at the same time…..he wondered what the heck was going through his best friend's head. He knew he had only wanted to save Kairi, but why couldn't he do it with Sora? Why did he go to _Maleficent _for help? He would rather team up with a murderous witch than his best friend? And later, it didn't even look like he was doing it for Kairi. It looked more like he was doing it to prove he was better than the young boy.

_Riku…_

"Sora! There's Charlotte!" Donald pulled him out of his thoughts.

The boy quickly shook the thoughts from his head, and followed his friend's gaze. Sure enough, the woman with shiny, blonde hair and a large, pink dress was kneeling down on the ground.

"Lottie!" Tiana cried.

"Is she okay?" Donald whispered.

"Come on! Let's check up on her!" Sora whispered back, hopping his way to a corner of the church. Tiana and Donald soon followed in pursuit.

* * *

"Goodness, this is so much to absorb!"

The three friends slowly poked their heads out from their hiding spot. "Naveen!" Sora whispered, watching the small man-turned-frog kneeling down in front of the bubbly woman, his arms spread out.

"What is he doing?" Donald asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Let me see if I got this right," Charlotte said, before Sora could answer his friend. "If I kiss you before midnight, you and Tiana will be human again. Then we're gonna get ourselves married, and live happily ever after? The end?" she asked, her voice shaking with excitement in the end.

Sora shook his head. "No way." Now Naveen was trying to marry Charlotte for real? The boy had half a mind to lock the blonde woman up in a room, and _force_ Tiana and Naveen to sort out their feelings. Half a mind.

"Yeah, more or less," he heard Naveen groan. "But REMEMBER! You must give Tiana all the munny she requires for her restaurant. Because Tiana," here the prince looked up at the brightest star in the clear, night sky. "…..she is my Evangeline."

And for the first time since what felt like forever, Sora smiled a warm, genuine smile. Not a victory smirk, but a true happy smile. Naveen had done it. He had confessed his love for Tiana, and the boy knew she had heard from the touched smile spreading over her green lips. She now knew how he felt…but that didn't stop the fact that the prince was getting married to the blonde woman to get his love her restaurant! Sora wasn't sure he'd be able to sit through that!

"Anything you want, sugar," Charlotte squealed, quickly applying some cherry lipstick to her plump lips. "Pucker up, buttercup!"

Naveen sighed softly and half-heartedly puckered his lips.

"Tiana, stop him!" Donald cried.

But he didn't need to tell her anything, for she was already on her way to the prince. She was about to lose him for good! "Wait!" she cried.

"Tiana?" Naveen whispered, turning his head in disbelief.

"Tiana?" Charlotte echoed, not believing the small, green frog hopping towards her was her best friend.

"WE OBJECT!" Donald cried.

"Naveen, you can't marry her!" Sora pleaded. He was grateful he was getting this out now, and not at their actual wedding. No matter how badly he wanted Tiana and Naveen to be together, he didn't want to humiliate Charlotte in front of everyone.

"Don't do this," Tiana whispered, hopping closer to him.

"I have to do this, and we are running out of time!" Naveen insisted.

"No!" Donald protested.

"I won't let you!" Tiana cried, grabbing onto his arm.

"It is the only way to get you your dream," Naveen stressed, removing his love's hand and making his way back to Charlotte's waiting lips.

"'My dream'?" Tiana echoed. "My dream wouldn't be complete…..without _you_ in it."

That stopped the prince.

Sora and Donald exchanged a knowing glance and smiled.

The frog slowly turned his head and gave Tiana a look of disbelief.

Tiana just shrugged. "I love you, Naveen."

Sora grinned from ear-to-ear as Naveen made his way back to the she-frog. He warmly grabbed her hands and helped her to her feet. "Warts and all?" he asked quietly.

"Warts and all," Tiana whispered, leaning her forehead against his, lovingly.

Sora was seriously considering pulling those two love-frogs into a group hug, but his thoughts were interrupted by soft sobs coming from Charlotte's direction. Realizing that they had just ruined the girl's wedding, Sora turned around, sheepishly. "Look Charlotte, we're sorry about-"

"Don't say another word about it," the blonde woman said. But she didn't sound angry or sad at all. Instead, she sounded…._proud._ "All my life I read about true love in fairy tales, and….Tia, you _found _it! I'll kiss 'em! For you, honey! No marriage required!"

"Hey, thanks!" Donald smiled, nodding in Sora's direction.

Charlotte then scooped up the frog prince in her hands, preparing herself for a mucus covered kiss, and-

**DONG!**

The group of friends quickly turned their heads towards the clock. It was midnight!

"Oh my word!" Charlotte cried.

"No!" Sora shouted.

"M-Maybe that ol' clock is a little fast!" the blonde suggested before quickly planting a kiss on Naveen's green lips.

Nothing.

Desperate, the woman repeated the action until the prince was covered in lipstick.

Still nothing.

Charlotte gave a hopeless pout. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, before setting the frog down with his friends.

Sora shook his head in anguish. "No! Now you two will never be human!" He felt like he had failed his friends, even though there was truly nothing he could have done to change the outcome.

"Sora…it's alright," Tiana smiled sadly. "We're together now…that's all that matters."

"If we must spend the rest of our lives together as frogs, then so be it," Naveen agreed.

"As long as you're with the ones you love, it doesn't matter what the conditions are," the she-frog added.

Sora looked at Tiana and then back at Naveen. They had both given up their dreams just so they could be together. Their love was the most important thing now. They weren't going to let a lifetime as frogs get in the way of that. Acknowledging this, he nodded. "Yeah…..when you love someone….it doesn't matter if you're trapped in the body of a frog…..or you're worlds apart….or you're two completely different people…..as long as you care for the person beside you….nothing else matters."

Tiana and Naveen nodded in agreement.

"SORA!"

Sora jumped at the sound of Goofy's voice. Motioning towards his friends to follow him, the four friends made their way towards Louis and Goofy.

Sora was the first to notice that Ray was not flying beside them.

"Louis, what is it?" Naveen asked, concern covering his voice.

Louis sniffed. "Shadow Man don' laid po' Ray lo!"

Sora grimaced at the broken tone in his friend's voice._ No…no there's no way….Ray can't be…_. "Ray…" the boy voiced weakly.

"He's hurtin' Sora!" Goofy wailed, concerned greatly for his friend.

Sora watched nervously as Louis gently laid the wounded Ray down on a leaf. Raising his keyblade, the young boy cried out, "CURE!"

A green aura washed over the tiny insect…..but he still struggled to breath.

The young boy looked horrified. "Wha-Why didn't that work?"

"Our magic can only heal flesh wounds, Sora," Donald said, sadly. "Restore the fainted, yes. Broken bones, if we're strong enough. But Ray's lungs have been crushed. We can't heal that."

Sora shook his head in disbelief. "No..."

Tiana released a quiet sob before gently stroking Ray's head. "Ray?" she whispered.

Ray gazed at her, weakly. "Hey Cher….how come you still..?"

"We're stayin' frogs, Ray," Tiana smiled warmly.

"And we're staying together," Naveen added, grabbing his love's hand.

"Oh…I like that very much….Evangeline….like dat to…"

Sora continued to shake his head. He didn't believe what was happening before him. It had to be a sick lie.

"Ray…" Donald whispered, heart break scratching his voice.

Taking one last shuddering breath, Ray's eyes slowly closed, marking the end of his life. Raymond was dead.

Sora's eyes widened. "N-NO! Ray! Ray, wake up! Open your eyes!"

"Sora, he's gone," Naveen said. His voice was covered in melancholy.

"NO!" The boy cried, tears stinging his eyes. He had survived many losses and betrayals, but through them all, there was always hope. Never once had he ever had to experience the _death _of a friend. There was no hope in such a situation.

The boy shook his head, softly. "No…"

Goofy sniffed as hot tears dripped from his nose. "Ray…"

And as if the mood couldn't get any more depressing, it began to rain.

* * *

Sora didn't say a word as the team carried their deceased friend to the calmest lake they could find. It had been hard telling Ray's family about his fate, but they all came, all with heavy hearts.

The only sound that could be heard, as they gently laid Ray and the leaf he rested upon on the water, was Louis playing a mournful tune on his horn.

Sora, Tiana, and Naveen carefully placed a single flower by their lost friend, and then Goofy and Donald softly pushed him into the fog.

As Ray floated off into the abyss, Sora struggled to conceal his tears. Ray had been a good friend, and he felt the guilt of not being there to help fight the Heartless eat him alive. He felt like he had failed his journey in New Orleans. Sure, he helped bring Tiana and Naveen together, he helped defeat the Shadow Man, and he stopped the Heartless from taking over New Orleans, but he had failed to return his friends to their original forms, he didn't even find a _hint _as to where Riku and Kairi were, and now his friend had been killed. It looked like this story wasn't going to have a happy ending….

"Donald, now's not the time to play with your ice spell," the boy whispered, as he felt a bright light shine down on him.

"That's not me, Sora…"

Confused, the young boy looked up in search of the source of the light. His friends soon followed his gaze. They gave a soft gasp.

It was Evangeline. The huge star's glow seemed to increasing in radiance. It grew to the point where they were all bathed in a white glow. And then…it happened.

A second star appeared right beside the star.

Goofy gave a little jump. "By golly! Is that Ray?"

Sora shielded his eyes to get a better look. "I think so….no, I _know_ so! Ray…he's finally with Evangeline!"

Ray's family roared with joy.

Tiana and Naveen gave each other a warm smile and embraced.

And just like that, Sora's worries were gone. He knew that Ray was happy where he was. He knew he was finally reunited with the girl he loved.

And by experience, Sora knew there was no better feeling in the world.

Things may seem like they could've turned out better, but in the end, everyone was happy. That's all that mattered.

Sora jumped as he felt his keyblade appear in his hand. Feeling a strong power vibrate from his weapon, he clutched onto it with all his might. He knew what was coming next.

Evangeline once again glowed, but this time with a sparkling red light. Sora clutched his keyblade as a keyhole magically appeared from the shining star. Sharply, the young boy pointed his blade at the keyhole, watched as a beam of light shot from it and into the keyhole, and listened with satisfaction as he heard something unlock. And just like that, it was over.

Goofy and Donald were the only ones who took notice of the keyblade's magic. "The door is open!" the duck/alligator exclaimed.

Goofy nodded in delight. "Well, I think we've done everything we can do here! Wanna head out?"

Sora pondered this before turning his head towards Tiana and Naveen. They were gazing lovingly at each other. Now, Sora had run into many couples and love-birds on his journey. Beast and Belle, Aladdin and Jasmine, Shang and Mulan, Jack and Sally, Hercules and Meg, Ariel and Eric….the list went on. But Tiana and Naveen….for some reason or the other….was his favorite. Maybe because they had been a big help with helping him sort out his feelings with Kairi. And he had a strong feeling their story wasn't over yet.

"Sora?" Goofy called.

Said boy turned towards his friend. "Not yet guys….I think we're going to want to stick around for a little while longer."

* * *

Sora thought right.

The next morning, the team found themselves smiling proudly at a glorious wedding. Yes, the prince and the waitress were to be wed. Naveen looked handsome in his white bowtie (which of course was actually a butterfly), and Tiana, beautiful, in her wedding veil made of spider webs.

Sora smiled proudly and straightened out the small, black butterfly that was his bowtie. "Believe it or not, this is the first wedding I've ever been to."

"I believe it," Donald smirked.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Hush guys!" Goofy whispered.

"And so, by the power vested in me," Mama Odie, their lady priest, chuckled. "I now pronounce you frog and wife!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy each cheered in unison.

"Get to it, hop-along!" Mama Odie told Naveen. "Give your lovely bride some sugah!"

Naveen smiled proudly at his new wife before gently kissing her soft lips. There was a spark of magic between them…..no, really, a spark of magic started from their lips, and then quickly, but gracefully, grew into a sea of golden aura.

"Woah!" Sora cried, quickly shielding his eyes from the bright light.

"Hehe! This gon' be good!" Mama Odie chuckled, clapping her hands together.

The three friends watched in amazement as the two newlyweds became engulfed in the golden magic. It soared around them until they were enclosed in a bright sphere, and then…

_FLASH!_

The magic dispersed, revealing a handsome man and a beautiful woman where two frogs had once been.

"Woah!" the three friends cried in unison. Not only were their two friends human again, but they were decked out in shining lily-pad themed garments. Even though the magic aura had vanished, they were still glowing with radiance.

Louis began to ball his eyes out, while Sora released a high whistle. Tiana and Naveen finally broke their kiss and instantly shot back in surprise at the sight of their better half.

"How?" Donald asked the Voodoo queen.

The old woman gave a hearty chuckle. "Like I told ya'll! Kissin' a princess breaks the spell!"

"Huh?" Goofy grunted, tilting his head to the side.

"Once you became my wife," Naveen said, speaking to Tiana. "That made you-!"

"A princess!" Tiana exclaimed before gently grabbing the front of her new husband's shirt. "You just kissed yourself up a princess!"

"And…I'm about to do it again," the prince smiled before pulling his wife into a loving kiss.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged a look with one another and said in unison, "AWWWWWWW!"

Mama Odie grinned a wide grin before stepping up to the three boys. "Well, not that 'ol Mama Odie don' enjoy ya'lls company, but I'd say is high time you three head out!"

"'Head out'?" Louis echoed.

Sora looked up at the sage and nodded. "Yeah, we need to get going. We still have to find Riku and Kairi!"

"Ya'll are leavin'?" Tiana asked, disappointment in her voice.

Sora nodded sadly. "It's all part of the job. See a new world, meet new friends, fight new villains, repeat."

"Yeah, because ya'll are from another world," Tiana remembered.

The young boy nodded. "Yeah, that's probably why we can still talk to you even though we're still in animal form, and you guys are humans!"

Naveen frowned. "But….you three shall return, yes?"

Sora nodded. "Of course! We can't miss out on seeing Tiana's restaurant! It's going to be fantastic!"

Tiana smiled sadly. "That's sweet, Sora….but I don't know how I'm gonna get my restaurant now..."

Louis gave her a wicked smirk. "Don't you worry about that, Tiana! I'm sure a lil' persuasion from 'ol Louis will help!" he said, even though said woman could no longer understand him.

Sora smiled, knowing what the huge, scary looking gator was thinking. "I'm sure it will."

Tiana gave our three heroes a warm smile. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, thank you. Thank you for helping me make my dreams come true."

Naveen smiled. "As soon as you find your friends, bring them to New Orleans! We will party like there's no tomorrow!"

Sora nodded. "Thanks guys! It's been great! Well, catch you lat-"

"Hold on!" Mama Odie interrupted.

"Ma'am?" Sora answered.

The old lady reached into her robe and pulled out a small, sparkling object. "Here! Take this for your troubles!" she said, handing him the object.

Sora looked into his green hand to find a keychain with a lily pad on the end. "Aw, thanks!" he exclaimed, as he quickly attached it to his keyblade. In another instant, his weapon was transformed.

The blade turned bright yellow, while the handle turned emerald green. Attached to handle was a bright green lily pad with cream colored flowers. The end of his blade was a little spiked, as it was in the formation of a star. To top it all off, there were pieces of vine wrapped around the blade. Holding it seemed to increase the strength in his magic spell, cure.

"Thanks everybody!" Sora smiled. "I promise, when we find our friends, we're going to see Tiana's restaurant in all its glory!"

* * *

And so they did.

After finding Kairi and Riku and defeating Xemnas, the boy took a short break to relax on his cozy island before telling his closest friends to get dressed up and follow him to New Orleans. And that was how Sora, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Kairi, and Riku found themselves in front a restaurant labeled _Tiana's Palace._

Everyone was dressed up for the occasion. Sora wore a white tailcoat with night black pants. He and his friends made sure to land in the city so they wouldn't transform into animals. This was the fanciest he had ever dressed.

All of his guy friends wore tailcoats with colors that held appropriate to their personalities: Riku wore a black one that was complimented by cream white pants. King Mickey wore one of gold, while Donald wore a blue and Goofy a green.

Kairi looked gorgeous in her sparkling, blue dress that reached the top of her knee caps. On top of her head was a blue band and a long, midnight blue feather produced from it. Her outfit was completed with a pair of dazzling black pumps, as well as a black sash around her waist.

"Sora, this place looks amazing!" she breathed.

"Well, let's see what it looks like inside, huh?" Sora smiled. That being said, the six friends entered the busy restaurant.

Everyone (but Riku) gasped in awe. The place was packed and for a good reason. The place really did seem to have a palace theme as well as good food. People were dressed in their finest, and having a great time. In the boy's personal opinion, it was better than that dream sequence that the Shadow Man had come up with.

Sora proudly watched his old friend Louis playing his heart out on stage. He noticed the name of the band on the drum set. '_Firefly Five and Lou'? Heh…Ray…Hope you're doing great up there._

"Sora!"

The young boy turned his head to find a beautiful woman in a green get-up rush to his side. "Hey Tiana! You got your restaurant!"

"Thanks to Louis," she giggled, remembering how her friend had terrified the men who dared to refuse her her dream. "I see you brought your friends!"

"Nice to meet you, Tiana!" Kairi beamed. "This place looks gorgeous! I feel like I'm in a fairy tale!"

Tiana smiled in her direction. "You must be Kairi! Sora's told me tons about you!"

"All the good things I hope," she smiled back.

"Nothing but!" the woman then looked at the tall man with silver hair. "And this must be Riku!"

Riku gave her a nod. "Nice to meet you."

Tiana then turned her gaze to the mouse with the huge ears. "But I don't remember ever hearin' about you."

"Aw, thanks guys!" Mickey playfully nudged Sora. "My name is Mickey! Nice place you got here! Sora tells me you worked years for it!"

"Well, you know.." Tiana blushed.

"Tiana! Is that Sora I see there?"

Everyone turned their heads to find a certain prince come running up to them. "_Ashidanza_! Sora, my friend, you made it!"

The boy smirked. "I promised, didn't I? You seem to be doing great!"

Naveen smiled his famous smile. "Did you expect any less?"

"From you? Oh no!" the boy chuckled.

The prince rolled his eyes. "Well Mr. Sarcasm, don't just stand there drooling over the décor! Enjoy your time! Bring your little lady onto the dance floor!"

Sora instantly blushed. "Uh…"

Kairi quickly grabbed his arm. "Yeah Sora! Let's dance! My foot hasn't been able to hold still since I walked in here!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Mickey smiled, making his way to the dancing crowd.

"Yeah…..I'll just…sit here and maybe order some food," Riku said, quietly taking a seat at a nearby table.

"Are you sure?" Sora asked, despite knowing his friend would be caught dead before he danced in front of a crowd of people. Even if said crowd was from a different world.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, I'm… feeling hungry anyway."

Sora gave a little shrug before taking Kairi's hand, and leading her to their group of friends.

Riku chuckled lightly before grabbing a menu. Although he didn't feel like making a fool of himself in front of all his friends, he did find this place pretty cool. It really was beautiful, and Tiana and Naveen seemed like nice people. He once gain felt that familiar, yet unwelcome pang of jealousy towards his younger friend. Sora had made tons of friends on his journey….Riku had only made allies that were ready to stab him in the back the first chance they got. He knew it was no one's fault but his own, but it was always painful for him to remember that, although he had redeemed himself more than once, he had in fact been the bad guy.

He was the villain. Sora was the hero.

"HI!"

The boy was shocked out of his musings at the sound of a shrill voice. His eyes roamed from his menu to the bubbly, blonde woman who had taken a seat across from him. "H-Hi..?" he muttered.

"My name is Charlotte! Charlotte LaBouff! What's yours?"

"…Riku."

The pink wearing woman's eyebrows shot up. "'Riku'? Oooh! Sounds mysterious! I presume you're with Sora?"

The boy took a quick glance back at his friend, and said, "Um…yeah."

"That means you're from another world! OH! How many worlds have you been to?" she squealed.

"Uh….quite a few…"

"LUCKY! What are their names?" The blonde was practically bouncing.

Riku cleared his throat before quietly looking into the coffee of the person beside him. What were they putting in it?

"HEEEEEELLLLLLOOOO?"

"…I'm not allowed to tell you. It's not safe for worlds to know about other worlds….we have to protect the world border."

"Aw, no fair!" Charlotte pouted, but then she instantly brightened. "So…how old are you?"

"What?"

"You heard me! How old?"

"….Sixteen."

"Really? 'Cause I'm seventeen!" the blonde grinned.

"Um…good for you," Riku grumbled, looking back down at his menu. Man, he needed to work on his social skills. He had no idea what to say to this woman! She was making him very uncomfortable…

"So…I don't suppose you're a…prince by any chance?" Charlotte asked.

Riku looked back up from his menu. "A…A prince? No."

"Oh….well…maybe I can make an exception to my Laws of Life….." Charlotte muttered to herself. "I mean, you're pretty cute for a non-prince."

Now Riku placed his menu flat on the table. "W-Wait…what?"

"Nothing!" Charlotte gushed. "So….do you like to dance?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sure, if you don't mind prancing around like an idiot."

"I heard 'sure'!" Charlotte squealed. She quickly grabbed his arm. "C'mon cute-stuff! Let's show 'em what we can do!"

"W-WHAT?" Riku's eyes grew wide.

"You heard me! Let's dance!" she squealed, pulling him towards the dance floor. "EEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"WOAH! WAIT!" Riku panicked as he was taken hostage by the hyper, blonde woman.

* * *

"Sora, you dance like you have two left feet!" Kairi giggled.

The young boy chuckled as he tried to perfect his jazz hands. "What can I say? I'm a fighter, not a dancer."

"It's basically the same thing," Kairi stated, giving a little twirl.

"No it's not!"

"Sure it is!"

"Nu-uh!"

"C'mon, fighting is just like a violent dance!" Kairi smirked.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Can't wait to run that theory by Leon!"

"It's true!" the red-head insisted. "Reliable sources say that if you have enough skills in dancing, you have enough potential to be an A-class fighter!"

"And by 'reliable sources', you mean Selphie, right?" the boy smirked.

Kairi only smiled at him before saying, "Hey, I'm getting hungry. You told me Tiana makes the best food! I need to try some!"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'm starved! Let's get a table!"

"Ah, ah, ah!"

The coup-er, two friends turned their heads to find the prince of Maldonia quickly approaching them. And boy, did _he_ have a huge grin on his face. "I have a special table reserved just for you two!"

"Really?" Kairi smiled.

"But we didn't make a reservation," Sora stated. "You guys didn't even know we were coming."

Naveen chuckled. "Actually, I'm paying my debt. I owe you big time."

Sora scratched the back of his head. "Naveen, you don't have to pay me back for saving your world. I mean, what are friends for?"

The prince snickered. "Silly boy, I'm not talking about that." Clearing his throat, he motioned for the two friends to follow him. "_Monsieur, Madame, _follow me." With that, he led them through the crowd of dancing customers.

"Where do you think he's taking us?" Kairi whispered.

"Beats me. He said he had a special table reserved for us," Sora pondered.

"So does that mean-"

"And here we are!" the man interrupted. The two teenagers watched as the prince pushed back a pair of glass doors to reveal a beautifully lit balcony.

Kairi gasped. "Oh, it's beautiful!"

"And it's all for you two," Naveen said warmly. "I made sure to have this spot completely cleared out so you could be alone."

Sora blushed a crimson shade. "Oh! Uh…ah…that's really nice of you Naveen…but you _really _didn't have to do that."

The prince smiled. "Of course I did! We had a deal, yes?"

The boy was about to ask him what he was talking about, but stopped as his mind reeled back to the night Naveen had tried to propose to Tiana.

"_If I help you win Tiana's heart…will you help me win Kairi's?"_

Oh no…

Sora quickly patted Naveen's arm. "Oh, you mean THAT! Well, you don't have to pay me back right away! Maybe in two, three…..maybe ten years…"

"Oh no!" Naveen smiled. The boy could tell his older friend was enjoying his friend's discomfort. "A deal is a deal! But unlike a certain_ somebody_, I won't hide behind the door and narrate through the whole thing!"

Sora nervously scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

The Maldonian man smugly made his way to an overly decorated table and carefully lit a pair of candlesticks.

"A candlelight dinner? Oh my gosh!" Kairi squealed. She grabbed the spiky-haired boy's hand, eagerly. "Sora! This is so…so..."

"Romantic?" Naveen finished for her.

"Well…yeah," the girl smiled.

Naveen nodded and made his way to the doors. "Please, enjoy yourselves while I fetch you some of our finest wine."

"We're only fifteen," Sora reminded him.

"…Please, enjoy yourselves while I fetch you some of our finest soda." And with that, the prince was gone.

Kairi giggled before walking up to edge of the balcony. "You have such great friends, Sora. Naveen sure was nice to evacuate the entire balcony just for us."

_Nice….or diabolical? _Sora thought to himself, feeling his hands clam up. Obviously Naveen wanted him to confess his feelings towards the red-head girl _tonight._ Had the boy known his friend had intended for him to leave the restaurant with a girlfriend, he wouldn't have had an arm-farting contest with Goofy on the way here. It didn't help that Kairi had been sitting in front of him, so she didn't see the _arms_ in the arm-farting contest…

"Sora?" Kairi pulled her friend out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Uh, yeah! Real…romantic," the boy gulped.

Kairi rolled her ocean blue eyes. She had been talking about school. She was about to tease him, but stopped as something caught her eye. "Sora, look!"

The boy followed her gaze until he saw two familiar blinking stars. He smiled warmly at the sight. "Ray…..Evangeline…"

"What?" Kairi whispered.

"Ray and Evangeline…that's their names…." Sora muttered to himself.

"The stars have names?" the girl asked.

"And feelings," her friend smiled. He took a deep breath. Seeing his friend shining brightly with his love…it gave him courage. You never knew what day would be your last. Maybe it _was_ high time he told Kairi how he felt. All his friends were waiting, even the ones in New Orleans. He knew he cared a great deal about her, and he was no longer intimidated by their differences. Why go another day without making it official?

Slowly, the young boy grabbed the hand of the girl who he hoped would be 'just his friend' for only a few minutes more. "..Kairi?"

"Yes?" she smiled.

Darn that smile that made his heart melt! He took a deep breath. "Kairi…how long would you say we've know each other?"

The girl paused and then shrugged. "I don't know….I'd say about eleven years….."

The boy nodded, brushing some of his sweat off his forehead. Why did he have to be so nervous when it came to his feelings? "Well…we've been through a lot together, haven't we?"

Kairi slowly nodded. "Yes…especially during the past year. Can you believe half the things that have happened to us? I mean, who would have thought that you would be a keyblade wielder, and _me_ a princess! But will anyone back home believe us? No! You have no idea how hard it was to convince your mother that you didn't die, or how _impossible_ it was to explain to Riku's father that he didn't run away to join an emo band! Seriously, sometimes I wish I could grab a handful of people from Destiny Island and drag them-"

"I love you."

Kairi finally stopped her rant. Did she hear correctly? She slowly looked up at her friend's earnest face. Did he just say..? He couldn't have said..? "What?" she whispered.

Sora took a deep breath. "I love you. I always have."

Kairi placed a delicate hand to her mouth. "You…You mean like friends? Like brother and sister?"

The boy slowly shook his head. "Nu-uh."

The red-head released a small gasp. She had always suspected Sora had feelings for her, and of course, the feeling was mutual, but she had never expected him to say it out loud. She had always thought it was inside sort of thing. Hearing him say it now kind of made her feel guilty for not saying it first! Did she _have _to be a typical damsel-like female?

"Sora…"

"Let me finish!" Sora raised a hand. "I've loved ever since you beat Tidus up for kicking my butt when we were six. That's actually what got me into fighting. I wanted to be able to protect _you._ You're the light that leads me through the darkness. You're…" he paused and placed a hand over his heart. "You're _my_ Evangeline."

Kairi's teary eyes slowly moved to the two shining eyes before returning to the boy in front of her. Grabbing him by the front of his coat, she pulled him into a loving kiss. Sora was taken aback, but soon returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her waist. They were so lost in the kiss, they didn't notice Naveen sneak in and set their drinks down, before quickly heading back inside, snickering the whole way.

Finally, they broke apart, tears still shining in Kairi's eyes. "I love you, Sora."

The boy smiled. "Me too….but you know, with you."

The girl giggled before grabbing his hand in hers. "Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Well…what exactly is the story behind those two stars?"

Sora smiled. "Well Kairi, it starts with three heroes landing in a bayou…."

**The End.**

* * *

**And done! Thank you so much for reading **_**The Bayou's Heart**_** by Blueflower1594! One day, if Kingdom Hearts releases a game where New Orleans is a world, please remember that I beat them to it! I really tried to put the Kingdom Hearts mood in this last chapter, but I couldn't resist adding my own drops of blueflower humor here and there.**

**AND PLEASE, no one make a comment on Charlotte being seventeen. Wikipedia says that Tiana is nineteen, so seventeen isn't much of a stretch. Okay, just wanted to clear that up.**

**Also, in the beginning of this story, I said there were no birds in the swamp. Please disregard that. I wasn't thinking.**

**THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW I DID!**


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